A Mission of Epic Proportions
by The Celestial Tiger
Summary: Yu Yu Hakusho-Inuyasha crossover. The authorities of Spirit World didn't foresee the presence of a time traveler. Now the past is uncertain and Koenma must send Yusuke and team back as well in an effort to ensure that nothing changes history forever.
1. As Fate Would Have It

**The Celestial Tiger's notes:** This story is a Yu Yu Hakusho / Inuyasha crossover. It will be a mixture of humor and drama. It will not be stupid…I am a serious writer and I am serious about all of my stories. I approach all of my plotlines with the intention of making them both viable and entertaining.

I have found no documentation of what city in Japan Yu Yu Hakusho actually takes place in so I am going with creative license and making it Tokyo for obvious reasons. For reference, the YYH time placement is after the Dark Tournament saga events and the Inuyasha time placement is after the scenario where Naraku tried to absorb Sesshoumaru and Inuyasha broke through Naraku's barrier, gravely injuring him and causing him to go into hiding…this is basically as far as I have seen in both shows. Also, please note that this is non-yaoi. Please enjoy and review if you wish.

By the way, constructive criticism is fine. No one's craft is perfect and helpful advice is always welcome. However, flames will neither be appreciated nor taken seriously. This is a writing community, intended for the benefit of writers hoping to better their skills and entertain others. If you have nothing nice or helpful to say, simply move on to a story that better suits your interests. Besides, to me flames are infantile and laughable at best.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own any of the characters from either Inuyasha or Yu Yu Hakusho, much to my disheartened chagrin.

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**Chapter 1: As Fate Would Have It**

It was a normal day at school so far. Yusuke had spent most of it sleeping through class. He had developed quite an effective way of disguising his slumber by leaning against his left hand and holding his pen in his right as if he were hard at work taking notes. He also made certain to sit in the back of the classroom so that he would be inconspicuous.

This worked beautifully until he got to a class that he shared with Keiko. She made him sit up front with her. Also, seeing him appearing diligent only made her suspicious. She knew exactly what he was doing and was determined not to let him get away with it. She made certain that he stayed awake and even half paid attention. Needless to say that by the time the final bell rang to signify the end of the school day, he was very grumpy. He stormed to his locker in silent irritation, Keiko nagging him from behind the whole way.

"Yusuke, you can't just sleep through things that you don't want to face. I can hardly believe I'm talking to the same Yusuke who put his all into that tournament. You faced all those monsters without a thought of giving up or turning back, but when you're in class, you can't even bring yourself to look at your textbook!" Keiko's tone was stern but not as pushy as it once had been. She now knew that Yusuke was a spirit detective and she had witnessed first-hand the kinds of things that such a job put him through. That knowledge had taken some of the bite out of her lectures.

Yusuke never stopped to think that such lectures were the result of concern for him and he usually suffered her rantings with impatience, vocalizing his annoyance quite liberally. But on this day he was uncharacteristically quiet as she spoke. Keiko noticed this and paused once they had stopped in front of Yusuke's locker, which showed signs that it was almost never used.

"Well…don't you have anything to say at all?" she asked in exasperation, thinking that it was odd that he hadn't already blown her off. Yusuke became still for a moment and then slowly turned toward her.

"Yeah…I got somethin' to say," he said in a tone that was strangely reticent for him. "I've saved the whole freakin' world…no…both this world and Spirit World…I've been through hell and back more than once…how can I just come back to school and pretend that everything's the same? Everything seems even more mundane and pointless than before." His voice became increasingly edgier as he said all of this but he kept his volume low because there were other students around. After a brief second of silence, he sighed gruffly and opened his locker, throwing in the books that Keiko had made him pick up before classes.

Keiko's eyes trembled as she noticed that he was deliberately avoiding looking back at her. He shut his locker roughly and then jammed his hands in his pockets, turning toward her but not looking right at her.

"So…you wanna go get something to eat?" he asked in a brusque tone."I'm starving." This question meant that he didn't really want to talk about the previous matter any further.

Keiko sighed softly and nodded. "Sure, Yusuke…let's go eat."

They stopped off briefly at Keiko's locker and then left the school together, wandering down the street in silence. Keiko was looking at Yusuke as they walked, considering him. He had changed recently…grown in some ways. Oh, of course he was still Yusuke Urameshi, loud and obnoxious, hot-headed and smart-assed, but lately she'd noticed him becoming lost in serious thought occasionally or reacting differently to certain situations than he used to.

Keiko sighed to herself, knowing that no one could go through what he'd been through without changing at least a little. In fact, all things considered, he'd surprisingly remained himself for the most part. Getting Genkai back had probably lessened the severity of the repercussions of the Dark Tournament. Instead of living with a feeling of perpetual loss, he just had to deal with memories and of course the continued weight of the burden of being spirit detective.

Keiko's thoughts were interrupted when Yusuke halted suddenly. She nearly walked right into him but caught herself awkwardly right before the collision. He made no acknowledgment that he'd nearly caused her to fall but instead directed his attention to the fast food restaurant whose door they were now standing in front of.

"Let's eat here," he said offhandedly and strode into the building before Keiko could even reply. She huffed slightly but then sighed and resigned to just let it go, following him inside.

No sooner had they gotten in line than someone cleared his throat right behind them. They turned around to see Kuwabara standing there grinning like the Cheshire cat. "Hi guys!" he greeted jovially. "I saw you come in here and decided to join you."

Yusuke frowned dramatically. "Nobody invited you to join us, ya know."

Kuwabara clenched his teeth. "Who cares what you think Urameshi! Keiko wants me here, right Keiko?" He batted his eyes and smiled a goofy smile.

Keiko chuckled softly. "Oh, come on Yusuke," she said sweetly. "Be nice." Yusuke crossed his arms and pouted like a petulant child. 'So much for him growing up,' thought Keiko as she sighed but she knew he was just being difficult for the hell of it. She turned to Kuwabara. "Don't mind him, he's just grumpy right now."

A mischievous grin spread across Kuwabara's face. "Yeah, I guess I'd be grumpy too if I was a hopeless dork."

Yusuke felt his spirits lighten a bit. "What do you mean if, butthead?" he said in a teasing tone. Fighting with Kuwabara was always a fun distraction and sometimes it even led to beating him up, which always put Yusuke in a good mood.

"At least I don't sleep through class," Kuwabara scoffed.

Yusuke smiled sarcastically and retorted with, "Glad to hear that my reputation precedes me…and you know…that's really not something to brag about Kuwabara…you don't sleep through class and you still fail…that just means you're _stupid_." He put a teasing flourish on this last word.

Kuwabara flushed with anger but then forced himself to calm down. Yusuke wasn't going to get him that easily. "Yeah, well…I never said I was a rocket scientist, but at least I give a crap enough to try. I bet you'll still be in the same grade as now when I graduate."

Yusuke yawned as if he were bored. "Whatever, moron." He didn't give Kuwabara a chance to respond. Seeing that they had reached the counter, he turned to the cashier and began to place his order, deliberately ignoring the fact that Kuwabara was fuming behind him.

Keiko sighed softly but couldn't stifle a small smile. Yusuke and Kuwabara had a very odd friendship. They had become very close friends with all they'd been through together but they still thrived on tormenting one another. Despite how aggressive some of their repartee could get, she knew that their dramatized hostility was just their own unique expression of camaraderie.

Yusuke finished placing his order and turned to Keiko, pretending that Kuwabara wasn't even there. "Your turn," he said with an innocent smile.

Keiko eyed him skeptically. "I'm assuming that since my order is going on the same tab as yours that you expect me to pay for it."

Yusuke grinned triumphantly. "Why, Keiko, I hadn't even thought of that but since you offered…"

Keiko narrowed her eyes at him but it was Kuwabara who spoke. "Hey, Urameshi, that's no way to treat a lady, you freeloader!"

Yusuke rolled his eyes toward the ceiling and pretended to be more interested in the tiles than in what was being said to him. Kuwabara growled at him but the cashier cleared her throat impatiently, still waiting for Keiko's order.

Having been put on the spot, Keiko went ahead and added her order to Yusuke's rather large one, paying for both of them herself. While she was doing that, Kuwabara went to the next cashier over and placed his order. Then the three of them walked to the very end of the counter to wait for their food.

Kuwabara didn't let any time lapse before he continued his sermon. "That was really sleazy, Urameshi, making Keiko buy your dinner. What kind of a man are you anyway?"

Yusuke stretched lazily. "A hungry one with no money," he replied nonchalantly.

Kuwabara gave Yusuke a dirty look and opened his mouth to say something else but Keiko patted him on the arm. "It's ok, Kuwabara," she interceded. "I don't mind buying him dinner once in a while. He has saved my life." Yusuke was about to gloat when Keiko turned a strict finger to him. "But don't you go and think that you can bum off of me all the time, you big lunkhead."

Yusuke grinned cutely, folding his hands behind his head in overplayed innocence while Kuwabara rolled his eyes and grumbled under his breath. Their banter was quickly forgotten, however, when their food was placed before them. They picked up their trays and found a table, all three of them silent at first as they enjoyed the taste of the meal.

The calm was unfortunately very short-lived. Soon enough, Yusuke and Kuwabara broke into another volley of loud insults, not caring how disruptive they were being.

Only a couple of tables down from them sat a young woman with her three friends. She was beating her head lightly on the tabletop, whining in frustration. "I know I failed that test. I hate math…I hate it, I hate it, I hate it…"

Her friends watched her for a moment and then sighed collectively. "I'm sorry, Kagome," said Ayumi, "but we took the best notes we could for you."

Kagome sighed miserably. "I know…it's just that if I'm not there while he's teaching it, I just can't grasp it. Let's face it…I'm doomed in that class. I just keep falling more and more behind."

The three of them looked at her sympathetically and Yuka spoke. "Yeah, but with boils and mono both, there's no way you could have attended class, Kagome."

Kagome became stiff, a tiny inaudible squeak emanating from the back of her throat as her eyebrow twitched. _'BOILS! MONO! Grandfather!' _She groaned in embarrassment for all of the diseases that her grandfather had assigned her. She knew that he meant well. Trying to cover for her constant absence couldn't be easy…but still! She clunked her head on the table a couple more times for lack of a better way to express her frustration.

"Kagome, don't do that!" scolded Eri. "You don't want to add brain damage to your list of problems, do you?"

Kagome sighed loudly, her forehead still resting on the table. "Why not…" she mumbled. Just then the two young male voices that had been constantly heard in the background escalated in volume.

"WHY YOU! GIVE ME BACK MY BURGER, YOU PUNK!" came a raspy, gruff shout.

"NO WAY IN HELL, MORON!" came the strident reply followed by loud scuffling and then finally a female's voice.

"Both of you stop it! You're acting like children! Yusuke, give him back his food!"

To that was heard, "I saw him steal some of my fries! It's a fair trade!"

Then the raspy voice rang out again. "LIKE HELL…AND I DIDN'T TAKE YOUR CRUMMY OLD FRIES ANYWAY!"

More scuffling was heard and finally a loud smack followed by, "OW, Keiko! What the hell was that for?"

Then the female's voice was heard again. "Because you're being an idiot! We're in public…stop acting like a two-year-old!"

After that was heard rather loud and conspicuous grumbling that eventually trailed off as the place returned to its normal level of background din.

Kagome and her friends had been staring in the direction of the disturbance as it happened and when it was over, they looked at each other and shook their heads. Eri spoke first. "Geez…that guy sounds like an absolute jerk…oh, and speaking of jerks, how's your psycho boyfriend, Kagome?"

Kagome sighed. "He's not really my boyfriend…and he's ok, I guess…I haven't seen him in a few days…I've been too busy trying to play catch-up with school."

Eri and Yuka exchanged a look but Ayumi spoke up. "What about all the other guys that are chasing after you? You know…the obsessed guy and the older one who wants you to have his kids?"

Kagome slumped back and sighed again. "I haven't seen Kouga in a while and as for Miroku…he's interested in someone else."

"What a cad!" Eri exclaimed dissapprovingly.

Yuka nodded. "Yeah, he sounds like a major player!"

Kagome just shrugged. "Well, he's definitely a pervert but I think he's genuinely in love with this one person…it's kinda sweet."

Yuka looked at Kagome in disbelief. "You talk about this guy like you think his behavior's perfectly normal."

Kagome shrugged again. "It is normal…for him."

Eri shook her head. "And you also don't see anything wrong with your ruffian boyfriend."

Kagome's eyebrow twitched again. "I told you he's not my boyfriend! And I didn't say there was nothing wrong with him…there's plenty wrong with him! He's just…not as bad as he used to be, ok!"

Yuka pursed her lips in disapproval. "And what about poor Hojo? You know he still likes you, Kagome. He asks about you every day."

Kagome closed her eyes and took a sip of her soda before responding. "How many times do I have to tell you guys that I don't want anything but friendship from Hojo. He's very sweet but I'm just not interested."

Eri looked a bit exasperated. "Honestly, Kagome…you're just hopeless! You have the perfect guy pining for you and you want Mr. Abusive Attitude!"

Kagome frowned at her. "There are far worse guys than Inuyasha, believe me!"

Just then, as if on cue, another ruckus broke out at the same table as before, the same two male voices practically shouting at one another and once again disturbing everyone. They got more and more obnoxious until Kagome just couldn't take it anymore. This had not been her day and her temper was a tenuous thread away from snapping, especially after weathering the persistent inquisition from her friends.

Besides that, she dealt with more than enough juvenile arguing from Inuyasha and Kouga or Inuyasha and Shippou and she was in no mood to put up with it from strangers when all she wanted was to eat her meal quietly. That eerily calm expression passed over her face as she turned to her three friends. "Excuse me a moment, please."

As Kagome got up, Eri, Yuka and Ayumi looked back and forth to each other and then Eri nodded sagely. "Somebody's gonna be very sorry they pissed Kagome off."


	2. A Less Than Amicable Meeting

**Chapter 2: A Less Than Amicable Meeting**

Kagome stormed up to the table where a young man with black hair had another young man with orange hair in a headlock and was punching the top of his head with his fist while a young woman was trying to stop it to no avail. The thought crossed Kagome's mind briefly that this looked uncannily like Inuyasha picking on Shippou. Of course, this only served to fuel her fire. She didn't tolerate such behavior from Inuyasha and she certainly had no patience for somebody who acted in the exact same manner.

_**"EXCUSE ME!"**_ she yelled to get their attention.

Yusuke froze and looked apprehensively up at the source of the interruption, surprised by the anger of the sudden shout. Kuwabara looked a bit glazed over, having been beaten in the head, but he still managed to focus his gaze on the girl standing in front of their table. Keiko tried to shrink down into the seat, embarrassed to be in the middle of such a humiliating situation.

Kagome stood there stiffly, her arms drawn tightly to her sides and her fists clenched. **"**Just what is wrong with you? In case you hadn't noticed, there are other people in here! If you absolutely have to do that, will you please **_take it outside_**!" She punctuated the word 'outside' with an angry foot stomp and a vehement point toward the front door.

Yusuke's and Kuwabara's eyes had grown quite large. This girl was as scary as Keiko when she was mad. Yusuke let go of Kuwabara's head, holding his hands up in the air as if a gun were pointed at him.

Kuwabara tried to straighten himself out, rubbing his head where Yusuke had hit him several times. "Eh, heh…um…sorry, Miss…" he said as politely as he could. He offered a lopsided, nervous grin apologetically. When Kagome turned her gaze on him, he felt like he might turn to ice and he stiffened, his teeth clenching with apprehension. The dark, angry look on her face was downright frightening! In addition, a familiar prickling sensation ran through his body as well, a feeling that he had come to trust the accuracy of. It didn't seem possible, though, that it could be triggered by this common school girl. He found himself just wishing that she'd turn her gaze off of him again.

Luckily, she didn't seem to have it out for him. "Apology accepted," she said quickly. "Besides, I have a feeling you're not really the one who should be doing the apologizing." She fixed her deadly glare on Yusuke, a look that made even Inuyasha cringe.

But obviously this boy didn't know her as well as Inuyasha did because he didn't know when to back off. His surprised expression eventually transformed into a somewhat smart-assed smile and he practically waved her off. "Oh, come on Miss, lighten up…we were just goofing off."

Kuwabara glared at Yusuke. "No, you were trying to strangle me and turn my head into mush, you punk!"

Yusuke made a face back at Kuwabara. "At least you don't have to worry about brain damage…gotta have _**brains**_ for that!"

**_"UP YOURS, URAMESHI!"_** Kuwabara yelled, his face turning red.

**_"UP YOURS FIRST, MORON!"_** Yusuke yelled back.

That was the last straw. Kagome growled loudly in frustration and slammed her palms down on the table, making both Yusuke and Kuwabara jump in fright. **_"CUT IT OUT! NOBODY CAN HEAR THEMSELVES THINK WITH YOU TWO SHOUTING AT EACH OTHER! YOU'RE ANNOYING ALL OF THESE PEOPLE AND DISTURBING THOSE OF US WHO JUST WANT TO HAVE A QUIET MEAL! WHY DON'T YOU GROW UP A LITTLE?"_** At that, everyone else in the restaurant started clapping. Keiko turned a scarlet shade of red and whimpered in absolute mortification.

Kagome's ire was mitigated by pity for this poor girl and she calmed down. She truly identified with her situation. In a much softer voice, she addressed Keiko. "I'm really sorry to embarrass you."

Keiko looked at Kagome with an apologetic expression. "No, I'm sorry…I don't know what's gotten into these two knuckleheads today…especially this one," she said, pointing at Yusuke. Yusuke blinked in feigned innocence.

Kagome nodded. "Trust me, I understand better than you might think. Try a collar and leash…it works," she remarked in reply, making a comparison to Inuyasha that no one would have picked up on.

Keiko smiled weakly. "Yeah…one of those shock collars might come in handy," she replied as she shot Yusuke a malevolent glare. Yusuke made a pouty expression at her and crossed his arms, turning his head and staring into space as if he were ignoring her. Keiko just huffed and shook her head. "Don't worry, he won't misbehave again…I'll see to it," she said with an edge to her voice, cutting her eyes at Yusuke in a silent threat.

Kagome smiled softly and quipped, "Men…can't live with 'em…can't kill 'em." With that she turned to head back to her table. "Good luck," she offered to Keiko as she walked away. Keiko smiled at her but her smile faded as soon as Kagome had gone. She sank down further into her seat and groaned in aggravation.

Yusuke merely shrugged. "Geez, that was a bit excessive."

Keiko turned a dangerous eye on him. "Yusuke…just shut up and eat, ok!"

Yusuke blinked at her in surprise. "Okay, okay! **_Damn!"_** He snatched up a burger and took a huge bite, chewing fervently on it as he sulked in silence. Even Kuwabara knew better than to interject at that moment, though it was hard to resist the temptation to tease Yusuke for getting reamed. Instead, he occupied his mouth with his food, content for now to watch Yusuke pout. Keiko sighed in relief and finally resumed eating as well.

With the commotion having ceased, people finally stopped staring and resumed their own conversations once again. Kagome returned to her table, her three friends staring at her enthusiastically. Eri extolled her before she even sat down. "Wow, Kagome! That was pretty impressive!"

Yuka nodded in agreement. "Yeah, and I certainly hope you show the same zeal against that wacko boyfriend of yours!"

Kagome plopped down and leaned back in the seat. "Come on, guys, do we have to talk about this again?"

Yuka frowned. "Think about it Kagome…that should have been a prime example of why it's not a good idea to get involved with a jerk."

Kagome sighed and then shoved a fry in her mouth, taking out her frustration on it by chewing it vehemently. When she finally swallowed, she sighed. "Can we please change the subject?"

Eri, Yuka and Ayumi all looked at each other and then relented. "Ok, Kagome," Yuka responded. "We'll talk about…..uh…..um…..how about…..eh…." Kagome just shook her head. They spent so much time talking about her personal life that they were hard-pressed to think of something else to talk about.

"Never mind, guys," she interrupted. "I think I'm done and I have to get back to the shrine...Mom needs my help tonight." With that, she stood, hefted her backpack over her shoulder and then picked up her tray of cold, half-eaten food. "She ya later," she said, trying to sound cheery so that they wouldn't think she was leaving because she was mad. Then she started to turn to walk away.

"Oh, wait," said Ayumi unassumingly. "We'll go with you!" Kagome whined inwardly as her three friends also got up and picked up their trays. She just wanted to get away from everybody right now and be alone to think. But she just smiled patiently and nodded, planning to get rid of them once they all got outside.

On their way to the door, they passed by Yusuke's table. Yusuke was certainly glad that this hot-tempered girl and her friends were leaving. Her voice had been sharp and piercing and he was annoyed that she'd had the audacity to just come up and yell at him of all people. After all, he was Yusuke Urameshi and he did have a reputation around town among people of his age. He thought that everyone had heard of him and was afraid of him, even people of other schools. But apparently these girls weren't aware of who he was because as they passed him, they all spared him a disdainful look like he was a common lowly thug. It occurred to him that he should let them know who it was that they were being so scornful to, but an evil eye from Keiko made him stay his tongue and he opted instead just to glare back at them in silence.

Kagome and her friends then made their way to the trash bin, threw away their trash and returned their trays, Eri and Yuka grumbling about Yusuke the entire time. Right before she turned to leave, Kagome got the feeling she was being stared at and cast one last glance back at "the loud jerk" as her friends had just labeled him only to find that he was still glaring at her. She gave him her most dangerous glower and Yusuke shivered internally, his gaze shifting off of her immediately. Satisfied, Kagome stormed out, her friends following right behind her.

Yusuke was amazed…he thought only Keiko had the power to bully him like that. Yet, that girl had just made him back down with merely a look. She had even made his blood run cold for a moment. Normally, he was the one casting dangerous glares and intimidating people. It just wasn't right.

Yusuke's sulking was interrupted by Kuwabara. "Man…there's something weird about that girl," he said in a serious tone.

Yusuke rolled his eyes and retorted, "Well, that's obvious…she's nuts!"

Keiko waved Yusuke off and asked, "What do you mean, Kuwabara?"

Kuwabara was still looking in the direction that Kagome had left in. "Didn't you feel it, Urameshi? It felt like spirit power…but pent up inside."

Yusuke huffed and leaned back uncaringly. "I think your spirit radar's busted, Kuwabara. I didn't feel anything from her…unless you count an overload of bitchiness as a power."

"Yusuke!" Keiko scolded with a disapproving scowl.

Kuwabara also frowned at Yusuke. "I'm serious, Urameshi. I don't know what it is, but there's something different about her, I'm tellin' you! You know I can sense these things better than you can. She's setting off the tickle feeling."

Yusuke snickered. "Ah, yes…the tickle feeling. Are you sure you don't just have the hots for her?"

Kuwabara growled at Yusuke. "You know I love Yukina, you moron!" he snapped angrily. "That has nothing to do with it!"

Yusuke was still snickering but he put his hands up. "Okay, okay! Heh heh heh…don't blow a gasket."

Kuwabara calmed but kept his eyes cut at Yusuke. "Laugh all you want, dork…I know what I feel."

In the meantime, Kagome and her friends had stepped outside. After only a few steps, Kagome paused and set her backpack down on the ground. "You guys go ahead…I gotta check and make sure I've got everything I need."

They watched her as she knelt down and started rummaging through her bag. "Are you sure? We can wait for you if you want," asked Yuka.

Kagome shook her head. "Nah, 'cause if I forgot something, I'll have to go back and get it and I don't want to hold you guys up."

Ayumi smiled. "Ok, Kagome, we'll see you tomorrow at school. You should really get a good night's sleep tonight. I know you must have been up all night studying for today's math test and you look exhausted."

Eri nodded and added, "Yeah, just relax. There are no tests tomorrow."

Kagome offered a weak smile. "Yeah, but just trying to keep up in class is hard enough. Maybe I will go to bed early."

Yuka smiled back at her. "Go for it! You gotta take care of yourself or you'll get sick again."

Kagome nodded and smiled slightly uncomfortably. "Yeah…heh…sick again…don't want that. Well, see you guys tomorrow. Bye!" Her friends said goodbye and walked away, finally leaving Kagome by herself. She breathed a huge sigh of relief and turned her attention back to her backpack. She really did need to make certain that she had all of her catch-up work before she went home. She hauled her bag to the side, out of the way of people leaving the restaurant. Then she knelt down again and began to weed through the books, notebooks and papers one by one.

She didn't notice when a group of three walked out of the door of the restaurant and they didn't notice her because she was bent over and out of their way. She pulled a book out of her backpack to examine it when she caught a snippet of their conversation as they unknowingly passed her.

"…..so boring around here lately," came a gruff baritone that she recognized.

"Yeah," responded the voice of "the loud jerk". "I'm getting' antsy. I thought surely Botan would have had a new case for us by now." Kagome was surprised to hear those voices again so soon and stood right after they had walked by her, staring at the backs of their heads.

Still not realizing that anyone was within earshot, Yusuke continued. "I'm about ready to get back to kicking some demon ass." He punched his right fist into his left palm eagerly.

"I hear ya," agreed Kuwabara. "Demons are a lot more fun to beat up on than the local gangs." Their conversation was cut short by the sound of a heavy book hitting the ground. All three whipped around in surprise to find themselves staring at the young woman who had yelled at Yusuke just minutes ago.

Kagome stood there in shock. Had they just said _**demons**_? Of course many people did at least believe in demons of some kind, but in this era hardly anyone could really claim to have actually seen one. These guys had just spoken of fighting them like it was an everyday occurrence! Kagome just stood there, her eyes wide with astonishment. Who were these people?

'_Did she hear us?'_ thought Yusuke and Kuwabara both in a panic. But they found her shock in return to be very odd. Most people would have just given them a strange look if anything, but she was now standing there stiff as a board, her eyes wide and her mouth hanging slightly open.

Yusuke cleared his throat and tried to recompose himself. "What?" he asked, trying to sound casual. "Uh…you never heard of the Demons? They're a…a…really bad gang that just moved into town…"

Kuwabara caught on and nodded feverishly. "Yeah! Yeah! The baddest! They're the only guys around here that can even put up a decent fight for me and Urameshi here! We're the toughest guys in the city! Hehheh…heh heh heh!" he laughed nervously.

_'__Don't overdo it, numbskull,'_ Yusuke grumbled inwardly and he stepped on Kuwabara's foot to keep him from overcompensating to the point of looking even more suspicious.

Kagome seemed to recover slightly and blinked a few times. "Oh…heh…sorry…I…I thought I heard something else…not that I was deliberately listening or anything…sorry!" She blushed slightly, feeling stupid. _'These guys are just gang members…how could I have thought…' _She shook her head free of further hesitation and bent down to pick up her book. She quickly dusted it off and shoved it back in her bag. After hefting her backpack hastily onto her shoulder, she turned and walked away very hurriedly.

Yusuke, Kuwabara and Keiko all exchanged 'that was close' looks. Kuwabara sighed heavily and slumped over. "Man! I had no idea she was right behind us!"

Yusuke let air flap through his lips. "Shit…I'm starting to think you might have been right about her being strange. Did you see the way she looked at us?"

Keiko nodded. "Yeah, it was a pretty extreme reaction considering what you said."

Yusuke sniffed. "Damn straight. I mean, I know it's probably weird to hear somebody talk about demons, but why would she freak like that? It doesn't make sense."

Kuwabara looked in the direction she'd walked away in. "Like I said…there's somethin' more to her. Hey, you think we should follow her? Maybe she's trouble!"

Yusuke shook his head. "Nah…I might not be as good at sensing spirit energy as you, but I can definitely sense trouble a mile away and I'm not feeling any. She might be creepy as hell when she's mad, but I don't think she's dangerous."

Kuwabara shrugged. "I just think it's weird, that's all."

Keiko placed a hand on each of their backs. "You guys said that some people have higher spirit awareness and spirit energy than others, right? Maybe she's just one of those people and she doesn't even know it."

Yusuke frowned. "Yeah, but that still doesn't explain why she reacted the way she did to our conversation. That's still got me confused."

Kuwabara sighed. "Yeah, well, you just said she wasn't dangerous so let's just forget about it."

Yusuke smirked. "Fine by me…I really don't wanna waste time on a crazy chick like that anyway." With that the three of them left, deciding to forget about the incident altogether.


	3. The Icing on the Cake

**Chapter 3: The Icing on the Cake**

Kagome trudged home heavily, feeling a little more than silly for jumping to conclusions and making a fool of herself in front of people she really didn't know. She should have known from their behavior in the restaurant that they were just hooligans. What connection could they possibly have with the supernatural?

She sighed deeply, slouching over partially with exhaustion and the burden of her bag and partially in embarrassment. She felt tired…very tired…and the thought of having to do so much homework just made it all worse. She was just in the depths of self pity when she heard a familiar voice calling her from a little ways behind her. _'Oh no!'_ she thought. _'Please tell me it's not…'_

"Hojo!" she said with forced cheeriness, turning around to see him ride his bike up to her and then jump off merrily. He had WAY too much energy for this time of day, in her opinion. Still, Hojo did always have a very sweet and sincere smile and she had to admit that just seeing it made her feel a little better. Even if she didn't _like_ him in that way, it was nice to be around a guy who wasn't a jerk.

"Hi, Kagome!" he greeted with his usual joviality. "I ran into your friends and they told me you'd come this way! I couldn't bear the thought of you walking home alone, considering how ill you've been. Here!" He reached into his pocket and pulled out a little jar with something in it that Kagome didn't want to know about. It was dark and swirled with at least three different nasty colors, like mud mixed with tar and sewage. Kagome couldn't help but make a face and Hojo laughed cutely. "Oh, I know it looks terrible! And it doesn't taste that great either but I promise it works miracles!"

Kagome smiled weakly and took it, placing it in her already teeming bag. "Thanks," she said without enthusiasm.

Hojo's smile faltered and was replaced with concern. "Are you ok, Kagome? You don't look like you're feeling very well."

Great…now he was going to start doting. Kagome sighed. "Oh, I'm fine, Hojo…really. I'm just a little tired. It's been a long day."

Hojo's smile reappeared and he held out his hand. "I'll carry your backpack and walk you home."

Kagome groaned inwardly. She still would rather be alone but in all honesty, letting him carry that bag might not be a bad idea. It was so heavy and she just didn't have very much energy left. So she finally relented and decided to take him up on his offer. She took off her backpack and hefted it to him. It was pretty humorous seeing his eyes widen and then watching him stumble and teeter from the unexpected weight.

"Wow, Kagome! It's no wonder you've got a bad back! This thing is really heavy!" Hojo grunted.

Kagome smiled slightly. "Actually, I've gotten stronger from carrying it around."

Hojo half smiled as he struggled to get it on his back. When he finally did, he sighed. He was an athletic guy and he was feeling somewhat overburdened. He couldn't imagine how Kagome did it everyday! Unfortunately it only made his admiration for her increase.

Kagome took a deep breath with all of that weight off of her lungs. "Thank you, Hojo! That's much better."

Hojo had to slump forward slightly to support the weight of the bag. "Sure…no problem," he said, his voice sounding a bit strained.

Kagome smirked. "I'll walk your bike. It's the least I can do."

Hojo was not about to refuse her offer and he nodded instantly. With that, they began to walk back to the shrine where Kagome lived. They spoke a few words occasionally along the way but for the most part, Kagome was quiet. She could feel Hojo's constant stare of adoration and by the time they reached the steps to the shrine, she was ready to be away from him.

At the foot of the steps, they traded back off, his bike for her bag. He wanted to carry her bag up the steps for her but she assured him that she could handle it. He seemed very reluctant to leave her and it took her promise to talk to him tomorrow to get him to go away. When he had finally ridden off, she breathed a huge sigh of relief. At last some peace!

She slipped inside her house, wanting only to get to her room and lay down for a while. But as soon as she got inside and closed the door behind her, Souta came around the corner and grinned. "Hey, Sis, guess who's here!"

Kagome groaned. "You can't mean…"

Just then Inuyasha appeared from around the corner as well, holding Buyo upside down and chuckling almost sadistically as he swung him slightly from side to side. "You're home late…where've ya been?" he asked casually. Surprisingly, there was no accusation in his tone.

Kagome stiffened anyway, assuming he'd come there to drag her back to his time. "Aw, were you waiting at the door for me like a good boy?" she said acidly.

Inuyasha's eyes widened and then narrowed. "Well, someone's in a mood!" he snapped back, dropping the very pissed off Buyo and crossing his arms in an annoyed pout.

Kagome's lips tightened. _'Now where have I seen that before?' _she thought to herself sarcastically, remembering how the boy from the restaurant did the exact same thing.

Inuyasha scowled, his ears now back to show his irritation. Kagome frowned at him. "Don't give me that look," she bit at him. "I told you that I'd be gone at least a week! It's only been three days. I'm **_not_** going back right now! I have too much to do!" Kagome's volume escalated with each sentence. Souta's eyes widened and he quickly fled to avoid his sister's wrath, leaving Inuyasha to face it alone.

Inuyasha gave Kagome a dirty look and huffed loudly. "Who said I came to bring you back?" he said curtly. "You left this…" He reached into the folds of his clothes and pulled out a small notebook, holding it out to her but not looking at her.

Kagome recognized it as being her planner. The fire instantly left her eyes and she felt like a fool yet again. "Oh…Inuyasha…I'm sorry," she said as she took the book from him and looked at it with regret.

Inuyasha eyed her sideways, horrified to see tears building in her eyes. He held out his arms, waving his hands. "No, no! Don't do that!" he said nervously, his voice becoming a bit high-pitched and cracking slightly. If there was one thing he didn't know how to handle, it was a woman crying.

Kagome stared at the floor for a moment. "I'm sorry I snapped at you, Inuyasha…it's just been…a bad day," she said weakly, wiping her eyes and trying to will herself not to cry. Inuyasha shifted uncomfortably and cleared his throat. Kagome looked up at him. "You know…you could have just left the planner with Mom or Souta…you didn't have to wait for me."

Inuyasha smiled slightly. "Yeah, well…I wanted to see you." Kagome could hardly believe how sweet he was being, especially after she had just blasted him for doing something considerate.

Inuyasha saw how tired she looked and held out his hand. "Let me take that bag for you." Kagome all too happily surrendered it to him and he one-handedly slung it over his shoulder with no effort at all. Kagome remembered how hard it had been for Hojo and felt her heart speed up a bit just watching Inuyasha's display of strength. It wasn't that it surprised her…she saw it all the time, but for some reason she found herself admiring it more when he wasn't trying to show off. It was simple things like this that made her feel warm inside.

Kagome smiled softly and the two of them walked upstairs to her room. Inuyasha set her bag down on her desk and immediately climbed up onto her bed, sitting in the middle and smiling cutely. It was moments like this that made Kagome want to pet him. She could just imagine him panting happily and waiting for her praise for a job well done. This mental picture of course made her giggle softly.

Inuyasha's ears perked forward. "What?" he asked in confusion.

Kagome shook her head and sat down next to him. "Oh, nothing," she replied as she looked up into his eyes. Then her expression softened. "Thank you."

Inuyasha grinned at her. "No problem…I figured you could use a hand."

Kagome shook her head again lightly. "No…I mean thank you for being here and cheering me up. I've had a really rotten day and it's nice to have you here. I always feel…safe…when you're around."

Inuyasha's eyes softened and he gave her a tender smile. "What happened today to upset you so much?"

Kagome sighed. "Well…school's really hard right now…I think I failed a test."

Inuyasha looked slightly confused. "What kinda test?"

"A math test," Kagome answered unhappily. "You know…numbers and equations…"

Inuyasha didn't know what equations were but he knew that Kagome wasn't good with numbers and that she hated this advanced counting method that she was forced to learn. He nodded, giving her an unusual amount of undivided attention. "What else?" he asked, almost as if he were eager to hear all of her troubles.

Kagome smiled, surprised but very happy that he was being so sweet to her right now. "Well, my friends were kinda getting on my nerves and then I had a run-in with a couple of loud jerks at this place we were eating at."

Inuyasha suddenly became edgy. "They didn't try anything, did they?" he asked, leaning a bit closer.

Kagome blushed slightly but shook her head. "No…they were just being obnoxious in public and I told them to stop but this one guy was being belligerent and…well…it just wasn't very pleasant. And then I misunderstood someone and made a fool of myself after that. Nothing seemed to go right today." She opted to leave out the story about Hojo, knowing that Inuyasha's jealousy would overcome his current preciousness.

Inuyasha had a sympathetic expression on his face and he smiled kindly at her. "Well…you're home now and it's all over so don't worry about it." His voice was so soothing that she felt a strong temptation to lean against him for further comfort.

She smiled gratefully. "Thanks for listening, Inuyasha. You have no idea how much I needed that."

Inuyasha grinned widely. "Hey, what are friends for, right?" he said cheerily.

Kagome sighed deeply and opted to give him a quick hug, which he surprisingly returned without acting uncomfortable. Then she got up and started to unload some of her school books onto her desk. Inuyasha watched her, suddenly looking a bit antsy. He leaned from one side to the other, looking around her to see her books and then he leaned back with a disgruntled expression on his face.

Kagome paused and looked back at him. "I'm sorry I can't spend more time talking to you, Inuyasha, but I have a lot of work to catch up on."

His lips tightened a bit and his brow furrowed. "So you don't wanna come back now even after all of that?" he asked, his disappointment evident.

Kagome blinked a few times before she realized what he'd said. Then she responded, her voice much sharper than before. "Of course not…I told you I'd be gone at least a week!"

Inuyasha frowned. "But…I did everything right."

Kagome eyed him suspiciously now. "What do you mean everything right?"

Inuyasha didn't realize how thin of a rope he was walking on at that moment. "I thought you might come back earlier if…" He stopped cold when he realized that he was now receiving Kagome's patented glare of death.

**_"If you pretended to be nice to me?"_** she finished for him, raising her voice dangerously. **_"You're taking advantage of my bad day and my vulnerability just to trick me into going back early?"_**

Inuyasha shrank back in defense and put his hands up, waving them vigorously. "No! Kagome! It's not like that!"

Kagome was giving him the darkest look she could muster. _"**All of that sweet stuff…the backpack…the listening…it wasn't real! You were playing me!" **_

Inuyasha looked like a puppy who knew he'd done something grievously wrong and was about to get beaten. His ears were flat against his head and his eyes were huge. He scampered off of her bed and continued to back away. "Kagome…please…you don't understand!"

Kagome closed in on him, her arms stiff and drawn to her sides and her fists clenched in fury. When she assumed this posture, he knew he was in for it. "DON'T UNDERSTAND?" she exploded. "YOU THINK YOU CAN JUST COME HERE AND PLAY ME FOR SAP AND EXPECT ME TO DO WHAT YOU WANT? I HAVE A LIFE HERE TOO, YOU KNOW, AND I HAVE TO DEDICATE SOME TIME TO IT…IT'S NOT ALWAYS ABOUT YOU, **_INUYASHA_**!" Her voice was so loud and piercing that it hurt his sensitive ears and he grimaced in pain. Kagome wanted to sit him a million times but she didn't want to damage the floor of her room. "**_GET OUT! NOW!"_** she yelled as loudly as she could, pointing at her door and looming over him like a carnivorous predator over cornered prey.

Inuyasha cringed and decided that he had better cut his losses for now and let her cool off. No amount of backpedaling in the world would make a difference at this moment and he realized that he'd gambled poorly and timed it very badly. He fled her room quickly, not wanting to risk being sat. With how furious she was at the moment, she would probably break his neck in the process.

On his way out, Souta stopped him. "Geez, what did you say, Inuyasha?" asked the young boy, having heard Kagome's shouts quite clearly.

Inuyasha shook his head. "Never mind…I think for now I should just go."

Mrs. Higurashi peaked her head around the corner, having also heard the explosion. "What's the matter, dear? What happened?" she asked, approaching him with motherly concern in her eyes.

Inuyasha wanted nothing more than to flee the ominous cloud of anger that was emanating from the direction of Kagome's room but he could not resist that look. Being around Mrs. Higurashi was the closest he'd felt to having a real motherly presence since he lost his own mother. He slouched in resignation, his ears drooping in a downtrodden manner. "I think I said something wrong."

Souta scoffed slightly. "Yeah, sometimes you never know what's gonna set Kagome off…especially when she's already in a mood."

Mrs. Higurashi gave Souta a stern look. "Souta! That's not very nice!"

Souta shrugged defensively. "Well! It's true!" One more look from his mother assured the cessation of his commentary.

Mrs. Higurashi then directed her attention back to Inuyasha, her eyes instantly kind again. "Don't take it too personally, dear…Kagome's been very stressed since she came back. She's also very tired. Just give her some time to adjust to her schedule here again. She'll be better in a couple of days, I'm sure." She patted him tenderly on the back, offering him a reassuring smile.

Before Inuyasha could respond, Kagome's irate voice filled the entire house. "IS THAT **_JERK_** STILL HERE? IF I HAFTA COME OUTTA MY ROOM, IT WON'T BE PRETTY!"

Inuyasha cringed again and Mrs. Higurashi frowned. "Oh my…well…perhaps it will take longer than a couple of days," she amended.

Inuyasha started to edge away quickly but Mrs. Higurashi held out her hand. "Wait, dear! What about your dinner?" She had made him a large steak in anticipation of him staying to eat with them.

Inuyasha shook his head. "I'd rather live than eat right now," he said hastily, though his mouth watered for that steak, a meal he only got when he visited them.

Mrs. Higurashi bade him wait for a few seconds and rushed to the kitchen to put the steak in a container. Then she handed it to him and tousled his hair affectionately. Normally he didn't like being petted but he found that he didn't mind it so much when she did it. With that, he said a quick thank you and goodbye and took off for the well, feeling rattled and frustrated.

This had not turned out at all like he'd hoped. Deep down, he had earnestly missed Kagome and wanted her to return, not just because she could detect jewel shards but because he felt more at ease when she was around. In fact, he had gotten to the point where he could hardly stand for her to be gone at all. Her presence provided him with a comforting constant and she made him feel like he belonged in the world.

But he didn't know how to express these things adequately. There was a part of him that even resisted acknowledging his need for her so quite often he ended up saying or doing the wrong thing. Sometimes, he would earnestly try and still end up face first in the ground. _'I just don't understand her!' _he thought to himself as he bounded into the well. _'What does she want from me!' _With that, he vanished back to his own time.

In her room, Kagome had flopped down on her bed and was still fuming. "What a jerk!" she growled aloud to herself. "Jerk, jerk, jerk! AHH!" She sprawled out and bent her arm over her face. _'I hope that Keiko girl has better luck with her jerk than I have with mine,'_ she thought, her body already starting to feel heavy with sleep. _'I really should get up and start my homework…before…I….'_ She fell asleep in that position, all of her homework sitting undone on her desk.


	4. Lessons on History and Time

**The Celestial Tiger's Notes: **In this chapter, I'm taking a great deal of creative license to tie both series together with a viable explanation. Please remember that I have only seen Yu Yu Hakusho up to the conclusion of the Dark Tournament saga. If plot or background is given later in the show that contradicts or conflicts with what I'm writing, please understand that I haven't seen that far yet in the show.

**_P.S._** A huge thank you to all of you who like the story and have submitted reviews! It's wonderful to know that it is well-received.

* * *

**Chapter 4: Lessons on History and Time**

The next day, Yusuke, Keiko and Kuwabara were eating lunch together outside on the school roof when Botan flew down to them on her oar. Upon seeing her, Yusuke and Kuwabara's faces lit up and they clambered to their feet in anticipation.

"PLEASE tell me you've got another mission for us!" begged Yusuke. "I'm so frickin bored, it feels like time's going backward!"

Botan smiled somewhat nervously. "Heh heh…funny you should say that, Yusuke."

Yusuke and Kuwabara looked at each other in confusion and then back to Botan. "What'dya mean, Botan?" asked Kuwabara.

Botan shook her head. "I can't really explain it. You'll have to get this one straight from Koenma."

Keiko then stood, a worried expression on her face. "They can't go now! School's only halfway over."

Botan smiled and nodded. "Oh, I know! I didn't come to get them at this moment." Yusuke and Kuwabara slumped in disappointment and Botan giggled. "Oh, cheer up you two! I came to tell you to meet me in the alley by the movie theater after school. I'll take you from there."

Yusuke groaned. "Can't we just go now?" he whined.

Keiko frowned at him and Botan shook her head. "The meeting time is this evening. See you then!" With that she took off, waving in her usual chipper manner.

Yusuke plopped back down and sighed. "Damn…and I was hoping to get out of school for the rest of the day. Man, I can't wait! It's about time we get to see some real action again! I used to complain about spirit detective work but I'm startin' to think it's better than all this monotony."

Kuwabara nodded. "Yeah…more action…more adventure!"

Keiko sighed. "And more danger," she added, her voice soft. Yusuke and Kuwabara sobered a bit and looked at her uncomfortably, not knowing exactly what to say. Keiko then smiled weakly. "But…I guess if you weren't here to do it, then it wouldn't get done and we'd all be in danger a lot more often."

Yusuke smiled and nodded. "Yeah, that's true. Hey, don't worry about us…we've survived some pretty crazy shit…we'll take on anything and beat it!"

Kuwabara grinned. "That's right! We're the good guys…we gotta win!"

Keiko nodded at last. "I know…I just worry, that's all."

She seemed a bit more reassured but not completely satisfied so Yusuke let her hug on Puu for a while. That always calmed her down and for the time being, it seemed to effectively make her feel better.

"Well, at least the little guy's good for something other than getting me laughed at," Yusuke mumbled to himself as he looked at his watch, starting to count down the minutes of the day.

The rest of the day seemed to crawl by. Yusuke and Kuwabara got more and more anxious as the end of the school day drew near. When the last bell finally rang, they met up and were just about to take off when a voice stopped them in their tracks. "Don't think you're going anywhere without me!"

The two turned around to see Keiko running up behind them with a stubborn look on her face. Yusuke frowned. "You can't come to a mission briefing! It's in Spirit World!"

Keiko looked more determined than ever. "I don't care! I'm coming! You're not leaving me out of the loop anymore!"

Yusuke crossed his arms and glared at her. "Not a chance in hell!" he said more assertively but Keiko didn't budge.

The two of them went back and forth for a while until Kuwabara looked at his watch. "Hey! We don't have any more time to discuss this! It's getting late!"

With that the argument was over and all three of them took off for the rendezvous point. Yusuke and Kuwabara tried to outrun Keiko but she was surprisingly swift and was able to keep up with them effectively enough for Botan to see her running up after them.

Botan frowned slightly. "Yusuke, you can't bring Keiko!"

Yusuke grumbled peevishly. "I didn't _bring_ her! I didn't even _invite_ her! She did that on her own."

Keiko finally ran up on them and stopped, panting heavily. "You jerks! Trying to...outrun me!"

Botan directed her attention to Keiko. "Keiko, I can't bring you too…Lord Koenma would kill me!"

Keiko was still trying to catch her breath but she looked resolute nonetheless. "I'm going, Botan. I'm in on this too. My life has been…in danger before…because of Yusuke's missions…I'm not going to just…sit at home and be a target…or sit around wondering…if you guys are still alive!" she said firmly, panting between the snatches of her sentences.

Botan sighed and gave up. She knew how headstrong Keiko was. "Oh…we don't have time to argue! Lord Koenma is waiting and he's not very patient! Get on everybody!" They stepped back into the alley and she materialized her oar and even made it stretch to be longer than usual to accommodate the extra passengers. With that, the four of them took off for Spirit World.

Upon arrival at Koenma's palace, Keiko was awestruck. She knew that being friends with Yusuke would expose her to things that she otherwise would never have been exposed to but this surpassed even her wildest dreams. She took in everything from the moment that it came into view to the moment that they stopped in front of the giant double doors that led into Koenma's office. Botan knocked and announced their presence and the doors opened.

There behind the desk sat what appeared to be a toddler feverishly pouring over books and papers. Keiko had only seen Koenma in his teenage form and she blinked in disbelief when she recognized the clothes. "Is _that _Koenma?" she asked in surprise.

Koenma heard her voice and his attention snapped up to the group now entering his office. He suddenly became very cross. "BOTAN! What's the meaning of bringing Keiko along?" He thought about transforming quickly, but what was the point? Keiko had already seen him like this.

Botan shifted nervously and cleared her throat. "Sir, I….I didn't….that is.…I…"

Keiko stepped forward. "I insisted, Sir." She then became somewhat sheepish. "You look…different…than the last time I saw you."

Koenma flopped back into his chair and sighed heavily. "Yes, yes…I know. This form…uh…conserves my great and powerful energy...yes…that's it."

Yusuke snorted out a snicker and then burst into laughter. "Yeah, right!" he scoffed.

Koenma shot him a look of loathing. Then he looked back at Keiko. "Never mind him! Just remember that no matter what my appearance is, I am very, very old and very, very wise."

Keiko nodded but Yusuke just laughed harder. "Well…HAHAHAHAHA…I'd believe old before I'd believe wise…HAHAHHAHAHAAA!"

Botan looked both shocked and angry. "Yusuke! Show some respect!"

It was Kuwabara, however, who smacked Yusuke on the back of the head just then. "Shut up, Urameshi! Did we come here for jollies or for a mission?"

Koemna offered Kuwabara an approving smile. "Ah, good man, Kuwabara. I knew I always liked you better."

Yusuke snorted wryly but he stopped laughing. "Ok, so what the hell are we here to do, anyway?" he asked indignantly.

"Well, perhaps if you'd stop farting around and listen, you'd get an explanation, dimwit!" came a raspy voice from the corner of the room behind them. Everyone turned to see three very familiar people step forward. Genkai had her gaze fixed on Yusuke as she had been the one to reprimand him.

Yusuke smiled half-sarcastically. "Hey, Grandma! Still as crotchety as ever, huh?" Genkai merely ignored Yusuke's irreverent greeting.

Kuwabara beamed happily. "Master Genkai! Red! Short stuff! It's been a little while!"

Hiei looked at Kuwabara with distaste. "Not nearly long enough," he said in his quiet but razor-edged tone.

Kurama merely smiled. "Hello. It's nice to see you all again."

"Sorry to interrupt your reunion," cut in Koenma, "but there's something very big happening and we don't have time for small talk. Actually…time itself is the problem."

Everyone now collected right in front of Koenma's desk and looked at him curiously. Koenma drew in a deep breath but leaned back, pausing dramatically and closing his eyes.

"SPILL IT, ALREADY!" Yusuke shouted impatiently after a few seconds of silence, pounding his fist on the desk.

Koenma gave him a very dirty look and straightened the papers that Yusuke had disturbed. "I'm trying to figure out how to explain this to you," he said, sounding harried. "It's very complicated."

After another moment, Koenma pushed an open book forward for everyone to look at. "Alright…as you all know, time is a very delicate thing," he said trying to sound official and pointing at a chart in the book. "Everything that is done results in consequences and if things were to be done differently in various instances of the past, future outcomes would fluctuate based on each unique action taken. Are you all with me so far?"

Looking across each face, he saw understanding in all but two. "Yusuke…Kuwabara…you have to pay attention and try to keep up! This is very important!"

Yusuke frowned. "Well, maybe if you tried not to talk like Albert frickin Einstein!"

Kurama raised a finger to catch Koenma's attention. "If I may?" he questioned. Koenma nodded and Kurama turned to Yusuke and Kuwabara. "Think of it this way, Yusuke," he said patiently. "Suppose you had the chance to go back to the day that you died…only this time you didn't jump in front of the car. Your future would turn out vastly different than it did originally."

Understanding lit Yusuke's eyes. "Oh, I get it!"

Kuwabara nodded. "Yeah, me too!"

Kurama merely smiled and returned his gaze to Koenma to indicate that he should continue.

Koenma sighed and nodded. "Ok…if the past is changed thereby changing the future, then the flow of time itself is altered and everyone remembers only the most recent outcome. In other words, no one would be aware that time was altered because what they would have originally remembered would technically never have happened and they would accept the new timeline as if it were always that way."

Again, Yusuke and Kuwabara looked utterly lost. Koenma's expression darkened and he groaned in frustration. "I can't explain this in any other way! Kurama…" he pleaded, his gaze shifting to Kurama as he waited for him to offer an explanation that Yusuke and Kuwabara could understand.

Kurama nodded patiently. "Let us use the circumstance of your death as an example again, Yusuke. If you had not jumped in front of the car and had never died, your future would not be as it is now, correct?"

Yusuke nodded somewhat impatiently. "Yeah, we already covered that, Kurama."

Kurama merely smiled and continued. "It follows, then, that none of this would have ever happened…thus, your memory would reflect a life without all of this. You could not remember it if it never happened."

Once again, the light of understanding clicked on inside Yusuke's and Kuwabara's eyes. "OH! I get it!" exclaimed Yusuke. "I couldn't remember dying and coming back to life and becoming spirit detective if none of that had happened!"

Kurama nodded. "Precisely, Yusuke. Your memories would instead reflect whatever life would have resulted from your choice not to jump in front of the car."

Yusuke frowned. "It would probably suck."

Koenma cleared his throat. "May I continue now?" Yusuke stuck out his tongue but Kurama nodded.

Koenma then took a deep breath. "Having said all of that, you must now realize that if time were fluctuating, none of you would realize it." He finally got nods from everyone. "Very good! I'm glad we're all finally on the same page. Alright…so here's the dilemma. Time is fluctuating. I know this because I exist out of time. It's one of my cool abilities," he said, suddenly looking self-important.

"The point," Hiei demanded succinctly.

Koenma deflated and frowned at Hiei. "The point, Hiei, is that this could be devastating to the present as we know it. So far, nothing major has changed, but if things are allowed to continue in this uncertain manner, the past could be drastically rewritten.

"May I ask what these changes might possibly entail?" Kurama requested in his soft, calm voice.

Koenma nodded. "I was actually just getting to that." He unrolled before them a long scroll with a timeline of the past 1000 years on it. "A new edition of this scroll is made every 1000 years. We make them to chronicle past events and to monitor any possible fluctuations in history due to instabilities in the time continuum."

He pointed to the timeline. "You see, these scrolls are outside of time as well. If history is altered, this timeline changes to reflect it." Sure enough, as he was speaking, a couple of events that had been documented shifted along the timeline slightly and another disappeared for a moment only to reappear again.

Everyone stared in surprise and Koenma sighed gravely. "I have been watching this scroll very carefully over the last few months. I have never seen time fluctuate so much as it is now and I've been trying to trace the source. I figured out that it's a time traveler who is causing this instability, because these changes started happening right after the first temporal disturbance we sensed…and only the presence of a foreign influence could cause a problem of this magnitude."

"A time traveler!" Kuwabara gasped as everyone exchanged looks of surprise.

Koenma nodded. "Yes…and it hasn't been easy tracking down the origins of the temporal gate, I'll tell you!"

Yusuke clenched his fists. "Who is this jackass? I'll take care of it!"

Koenma held up his hand. "Wait a minute, Yusuke. I'm not finished yet."

Yusuke rolled his eyes and slouched in frustration. "Well, hurry up!" he snapped.

Koenma ignored Yusuke's impatience and looked back down at the scroll as more things shifted. He shook his head. "Nothing earth-shattering so far but this is making me very nervous." He fingered a span of the timeline indicatively. He then looked back up at everyone.

"I don't know if any of you know this but several hundred years ago, the human world was riddled with demons. I'm talking about thousands upon thousands of them."

Kurama nodded. "Yes…as I recall, many demons migrated to the human world back before the barrier between the demon world and the human world was established. Demons were free to come and go as they pleased a little over 1000 years ago."

Koenma nodded. "Yes, and we established the barrier about 1000 years ago so that no more could invade the human world…at least not without great effort…but those that were already there were…shall we say…prolific. Some lines of demons had been there for centuries and some had just migrated right before we raised the barrier, but after a few generations there was a serious demon population problem even with the barrier in place."

"Not only that," continued Koenma, "but knowledge of Demon World was lost more and more with each new generation so that after a few hundred years, most of the demons of Human World had no knowledge that their ancestors came from an entirely different world. They completely adapted to life there and became a part of human history which made a mass removal even more difficult than it would have been already."

Koenma now leaned deeply into his chair, looking weary. "Frankly, we just didn't have the ability to deal with it. It took centuries just to develop the resources to get so many thousands back to Demon World. And then at that, they were so integrated into human life and history by that time that we had to remove them gradually or the resulting sudden change could have proved devastating."

"Luckily, as humans advanced in technology and science, they started to believe that demons and magic and such were just superstitions. After all, because of our efforts, the demon population was disappearing and it gave rise to a whole new way of human thinking. That made it so much easier to just remove the rest of the demons in bulk. Humans were ready to dismiss them from their evolving world…and we took care of it."

Koenma sighed and then continued. "Of course, we can never completely remove the influence of the supernatural in the human world. There are a few demons that somehow make it across the barrier from time to time without our admittance and then there are our affairs within the human world as well. That's why not all 'superstitions' have completely faded. There will always be facets of our three worlds that will coincide…it's what balances them."

Koenma finally paused and it was surprisingly Genkai who took the opportunity to speak. "Well, that brings us up to date in demon history within the human world but it still doesn't explain what we have to do."

Koenma nodded. "Yes, yes, I know…I'm getting to that."He looked down at the timeline and became very concerned at a sudden change but before he had a chance to get too worked up, it went back to the way it had been before. Koenma sighed deeply in relief and slumped in his chair. He then took a deep breath and continued.

"Like I said, we managed over time to effectively banish most of the demons from human world. But now that history is unstable, even that outcome could change. Based on what I've observed from this scroll, there is something that is giving the demons of about 500 years ago a massive advantage and allowing them to change history in ways that they shouldn't be able to. It started off small but it's reaching a dangerous level."

"How dangerous?" asked Kuwabara, though he had a feeling that he didn't want to know the answer.

Koenma looked a great deal more serious than everyone was accustomed to seeing him. "I would guess," he answered, "that if things aren't set right, the demons of the past will become too powerful to be removed from Human World. If that happens, it means they will also have the power to take it over. It could mean the complete destruction of humanity."

Hiei couldn't resist making the remark, "I don't see much of a loss there." For this he received several looks, but from Koenma he received an unwavering stare of severity.

"Don't make light of this, Hiei." Koenma chastized. "If the human world falls, the balance between the three worlds will crumble and everyone will suffer."

This caught Hiei's attention and though he had no intention of apologizing for his comment, he decided that this was now serious enough to merit his concern.

Suddenly, Yusuke piped up. "Ok, so then all we have to do is take down this time traveler, right?" He punched his fist and gnashed his teeth in anticipation of the fight.

Koenma sighed yet again. "No, Yusuke…it's not that easy. When the traveler first disturbed the flow of time, that set things in motion. Simply preventing this person from traveling anymore won't reverse the damage."

"Then what do you propose that we do, Sir?" asked Kurama calmly, as if he already knew the answer.

Koenma suddenly became resolute. "You need to go back in time 500 years and stop whatever is changing history, of course."

"WHAT?" blurted Yusuke before anyone else could react. "_THAT'S_ your illustrious mission? Just go stop it! Well, hell, if that's _ALL_ we have to do…"he bellowed sarcastically. "You blah blahed all that time just to tell us ultimately to go 'stop it'! What the _hell_ kind of briefing is that?"

Kuwabara nodded. "Yeah, I gotta agree with Urameshi on this one! That's not much to go by!"

Koenma looked very frustrated. "I'd tell you more if I could but I've never dealt with anything like this before! I'm flying by the seat of my pants here, too, so give me a break, ok!"

Kurama was still calm as he asked, "Then how shall we proceed?"

Koenma heaved a giant sigh. "Well…I am going to accompany you all to the site of the temporal disturbance tomorrow…it's also most likely the dwelling of the time traveler."

Botan looked surprised. "_You're_ going, Sir?"

Koenma nodded. "Yes, as serious as this is, I feel it my duty to confront this traveler along side my team. Besides, I have a feeling that this person has no idea how much damage their traveling has done. It might be best if I went along as a testament of just how serious this is."

Botan smirked. "Oh, so it has nothing to do with the fact that your father is returning tomorrow?"

Koenma paled and then scowled at her. "My father is coming back because of the urgency of this issue! I have to do everything I can so he'll see I'm taking this as seriously as it should be taken! Otherwise…." Koenma whimpered as he shuddered. His father was already angry that this situation had arisen in the first place and he knew he had better bend over backward to ensure as swift an end to it as possible.

His despair was interrupted by the sound of Keiko's voice. "So, then…this traveler lives right where the time portal is?"

Koenma snapped out of his trance of dread. "What? Oh…yes! Just last night, we finally tracked down the source of the temporal disturbance. It's coming from a small shrine called the Higurashi Shrine…home to the Higurashi family…it must be one of them who is using the portal."

"Why did it take so long to find it if this has been happening for months?" asked Yusuke with an annoying jeer in his voice.

Koenma cut his eyes at him. "Because, idiot…we could only track the disturbance when the gateway to the past was open…and it was always so brief that it was very hard to locate. It didn't happen very often either…sometimes weeks apart."

"Why didn't you summon us immediately when you found it?" asked Hiei. "If this is so important, why waste so much time?"

Koenma was getting very frustrated. "Because," he answered, "I needed each and every one of you for this mission but because of its nature, I couldn't just ask you to jump into it blindly on the fly. First, I needed time to do certain things myself. Second, I knew that you'd need this lengthy briefing. Third, I knew that you'd need the chance to make preparations."

"Preparations?" asked Kuwabara.

Koenma nodded. "Yes…I know this may not sound fair, but you'll be going back to the past and there's no guarantee how long you'll have to be there."

Kurama frowned for the first time. "In that case, one night hardly seems enough to prepare for a lengthy absence."

Koenma sighed, looking sympathetic. "I'm sorry but I can't give you more time than that. However, I have gone to great lengths to ensure that your affairs will be looked after. For those of you who this applies to, I have placed some of my people in proximity to your homes to watch over your families and I have assigned someone to collect your schoolwork for each of you," he said, looking at Kurama, Yusuke and Kuwabara. "If it is possible, I will have it sent to you so that you can keep up."

Yusuke scoffed. "I don't do my schoolwork anyway…what makes you think I'll do it while I'm in the middle of a mission?"

Koenma huffed at him. "Nevertheless, Yusuke, I'll be sending it if I can. Each of you do with it as you will."

Keiko cleared her throat, that expression of determination back on her face. "I want to go too."

Koenma blinked at her in surprise. "Keiko! It's far too dangerous! I'm sending the others in because they're my champions…fighters that have been designated for me to call on. But even though you're technically tied up in this, I'm not allowed to let civilians participate…especially defenseless ones. I'm sorry, Keiko, but under no circumstances will you be able to go."

Keiko was about to protest when Hiei turned to her. "Don't you understand, girl? You'd be a liability to all of us. You can't fight and you have no powers. We can't afford to go into this mission with someone who would require constant protection."

Keiko looked crestfallen and Kurama chastised Hiei. "Surely there were more delicate ways to put it, Hiei."

Keiko shook her head, however, a hard expression coming over her face. "No…he's right. I would be in the way with nothing to contribute. And I refuse to be a burden to anyone."

Hiei seemed satisfied with her answer and cast a glance at Kuwabara. "Now, if only the ape would acknowledge the same thing…"

Kuwabara towered over an unimpressed Hiei, grinding his teeth and shaking his fist in his face. "UP YOURS, TINY! I got plenty to contribute and I've already proved myself so you can just shut the hell up!"

Hiei looked bored with Kuwabara's ranting but he was definitely self-satisfied with his taunt.

Koenma cut in, however, before anything else could be said. "Alright! Alright! Knock it off!" He then turned to Keiko. "Thank you for being practical…not to mention saving me even more of my father's wrath."

Keiko nodded. Though she wasn't happy about staying behind, she truly didn't want to be a burden.

Koenma then leaned back in his chair. "Well, I guess the briefing's over. All of you go and do the best you can to make preparations for your absences. You three," he said, pointing at Kurama, Yusuke and Kuwabara, "don't worry about going to school tomorrow. I have already taken the liberty of writing elaborate excuse notes for each of you and am sending them with the same people who will be collecting your work."

Everyone nodded and then Koenma gave each person except Keiko a piece of paper. "Here's the address of the shrine. Meet me in front of it at exactly 1:00 P.M. That should give you enough time to make your provisions. See you tomorrow." He then went immediately back to pouring over the scroll and the books on his desk like he had been when they first came in.

Botan turned and ushered everyone out and they all went their separate directions. Botan took Yusuke, Keiko and Kuwabara back in the same way that she had brought them.

It wasn't until Botan had left and Kuwabara had gone off in the direction of his home that Keiko spoke again. "I guess…this is the last night I'll see you for a long time," she said, her voice thick with emotion.

Yusuke cleared his throat uncomfortably but then smiled at her. "Hey, don't worry. I'll be ok…and you'll be ok. At least you won't have me at school to get you in trouble or distract you from what you should be doing, right?"

He laughed a slightly forced laugh but Keiko's eyes began to mist over with tears even as she smiled sadly. "I'd rather have you there driving me crazy than off somewhere in danger and not knowing if you're ok." They reached Keiko's door and she turned to Yusuke, her eyes shimmering with sorrow.

Yusuke's expression softened. "Hey…don't worry," he said with a gentleness that he only expressed when they were alone. "I'll be back before you know it and everything will be fine."

Keiko looked into his eyes for a moment and then suddenly flung herself against him, clinging to him tightly, her tears spilling silently now that her face was hidden. Yusuke's eyes widened and he gulped uncomfortably at first but then after a moment, his arms closed around her in a slightly awkward embrace. "Keiko…" he uttered softly but made no attempt to talk her out of crying.

After a while, Keiko pulled back to look at him again. Because of the gravity of the situation and the proximity of their faces, there was a pull between them and the distance between their lips steadily decreased until they were but a breath away. Just before they touched, however, Puu poked his head out of Yusuke's backpack, which Yusuke had forgotten he'd been wearing this entire time.

Puu cooed softly but it was enough to break the moment and Yusuke pulled back and began to chuckle nervously, rubbing the back of his head. "Wow…it's pretty late!"

Keiko definitely looked disappointed but she smiled knowingly. Yusuke was still a big kid when it came to 'mushy stuff' as he called it. She still wasn't going to let him get away completely free, however, and she gave him a chaste kiss on the cheek.

Yusuke sobered instantly at this but then smiled cutely. "Heh heh…um…well…good night, then. I'll see you…later…"

Keiko gave him a serious look. "See that you do. You better come back, Yusuke."

Yusuke nodded. "Count on it."

Keiko then smiled and turned to go but she hadn't even taken a step before Yusuke reached up under the skirt of her uniform and squeezed her ass like he always did. She blushed and turned around and smacked him hard.

Yusuke grinned at her even though her handprint adorned his cheek. "Had to get one more in…I won't be able to do it again for a while."

Keiko couldn't resist the smile that tugged at the corners of her mouth. "You big dork. Good night. And take care."

With that, she finally went inside. "Good night…Keiko," he whispered after she'd already shut the door. He stood there for a moment even after the front light had been turned off and then walked home by himself, his mind racing with everything he'd been told and everything he had yet to face.


	5. Breaking The News

**The Celestial Tiger's Notes: **Once again, my sincerest thanks to all of you who are reading and reviewing! I know I'm not updating very often. Things are pretty busy but I'm trying to make time to write.

Oh, and here's a shameless personal plug. If you like my writing, I have a new story up in the Inuyasha category called _"In Your Heart of Hearts." _It's a series of character introspections. Basically each chapter is a one-shot in itself, to give me a break in between this massive story...yes, this will be expansive.

* * *

**  
Chapter 5: Breaking The News **

The sun rose bright and fair the next day. But even the warmth and cheer of a balmy day did little to raise the grim spirits of a certain group of people as they set out to tie up lose ends before their journey. For Yusuke, Kurama and Kuwabara, possibly the highest point of anxiety was finding some way to tell their families.

Kuwabara had actually decided to explain the situation to his sister since she already knew of the existence of such matters. Besides, he knew that nothing other than the truth would work with her anyway. She could read him like an open book. He approached her after her first cigarette of the morning. It was like coffee...she had to have one to become a functional person.

"Hey, I got something important I gotta do and I'm gonna be gone probably a long time," he blurted out all at once. Shizuru just stared at him, giving him that impartial look that was typical of her.

Realizing that she wasn't going to say anything yet, Kuwabara continued. "Yeah, so...there's something going wrong with history and we gotta go back in time to fix it. Sounds weird, I know. I gotta go today, though."

He paused again and looked at Shizuru. His sister merely blinked at him and took another drag on her cigarette. Kuwabara frowned. "Hey! Aren't you listening?"

Shizuru then blew out a spout of smoke and sighed. "Yeah...you have to go back in time. Not surprising considering all that Koenma's asked you to do so far for this job."

Kuwabara pursed his lips. "You make it sound like I'm going to the park. I might not even be able to come back."

Shizuru sighed again. "Well, it seems to me that you've already decided to go, Kazuma. And in that case, there's nothing I can do about any of it except hope you make it back alive." Just as Kuwabara was about to retort, she grabbed him in a headlock. "And you better come back, baby brother," she threatened.

"Okay, okay! Just let me go!" Kuwabara croaked. Shizuru seemed satisfied that he'd submitted to her and released her hold on him. Kuwabara rubbed his throat, giving her a dirty look for a moment but then he suddenly changed to an overly sweet expression. "There is one more thing," he chimed.

Shizuru grimaced. "Let me guess...take care of your hairball."

Kuwabara's expression darkened. "Hey, Eikichi's not a hairball! She's a sweet widdle kitty!" Upon hearing Kuwabara's kitty baby talk, Eikichi came out of hiding and leapt into his arms, purring affectionately. "There's my pwecious widdle baby!" he cooed, snuggling the cat.

Shizuru rolled her eyes. "Really, Kazuma...that's utterly pathetic."

Kuwabara cut his eyes at her and then returned his attention to the cat. "Don't you listen to her, sweetie." He suddenly got teary as he cuddled Eikichi. "Daddy's gone miss you! Oh, who will feed you...and pet you...and give you a warm place to sleep?" he lamented noisily.

Shizuru huffed loudly. "Alright, alright, I'll take care of her. Just please stop acting like a moron."

Kuwabara instantly grinned. "Gee, thanks! You're the best!"

Shizuru merely rolled her eyes. "Yeah, whatever...get your ass busy...Mr. Time Traveler." With the provision made for his cat, everything else was a snap and he was soon ready to go.

* * *

Yusuke had begun to wonder if his mother would even notice his absence in her constant drunken stupor. Then again, she'd been awfully sensitive about him being gone too long after his death experience. No, she would definitely notice and would probably slip into depression and then start thinking him dead again if he didn't return soon. 

"Hey... Mom..." he said, trying to sound casual. His mother looked up at him with half glazed eyes.

"Whaddya want?" she slurred out, though she didn't seem hostile which was a good sign.

Yusuke shrugged casually. "I just wanted to let you know that I gotta go out of town for a while."

Atsuko slowly blinked a couple of times until understanding set in. "You're...going away?" she asked, her eyes trembling.

Yusuke put up his hands to belay her panic. "Yeah, for a while, but don't worry!"

Atsuko's expression returned to dazedness. "What about school?" she asked in an empty tone.

Yusuke was prepared for this one. Just before they went their separate ways last night, he and Kurama had worked out a good excuse to tell their mothers...more like Kurama had come up with it and he had decided to use it too, but who was keeping tabs?

"I'm going to be a transfer student for a while...in...America," Yusuke said with a tentative eye on his mother as he waited for her reaction to his story. Atsukostill didn't look like anything was registering with her on a deep level. She stared blankly at him for a moment but then suddenly leapt at him, crushing him into a bear hug.

"You can't go across the world and leave me here!" she cried mournfully. "Why do you need to go to America to go to school? How can you learn anything over there? You don't even speak English! Besides, you hate school! Why would going to a foreign school make a difference?" She pawed at him the whole time, her voice approaching hysteria. "You can't go, Yusuke! You can't leave me here alone!"

Yusuke pried her off and sighed in frustration. "It's...kinda my last chance," he lied. "See, if I do this...I stay out of trouble. If I don't...well...you know how much the education system hates me." Now he was making it up on his own, tailoring the story to his situation. He only hoped that his mother would buy it.

Atsuko calmed slightly and stared at him. "That's a pretty extreme way to try and straighten somebody out, don'tcha think?"

Yusuke shrugged. "Extreme or not, I pretty much don't have a choice."

Atsuko finally appeared to resign. "When do you have to go? How long will you be gone?"

Yusuke shifted uncomfortably. "I...uh...leave today...and I don't know how long I'll be gone."

Atsuko looked appalled. "TODAY? Whaddya mean you leave today? Just how long have you known about this without tellin' me?"

Yusuke sighed deeply. "I don't really have time to talk about it any more, Mom. I gotta get ready to go." With that, he fled before she could react.He ducked into his room and quickly packed a few things in his backpack, hearing the clinking of bottles in the background.

_'Sure,' _he thought bitterly. _'Drink yourself outta this just like you do with everything else.' _But how could he really say anything? He was leaving...leaving her alone...alone to drink...alone to brood...completely alone.

A growl emanated through his clenched teeth as he practically punched the last of a few belongings into his bag. "Damn it all!" he gritted out. Puu sat on his bed and looked up at him, cooing consolingly at him. "Oh...screw it," Yusuke snapped. "She'll be fine. Koenma's got people watching after her. I got too much else to worry about anyway."

With that, he secured Puu to his backpack, flung it on his shoulders and then stormed out, calling out a brisk goodbye to his mother and shutting the door firmly behind him as he left.

Inside, Atsuko hugged her bottle as a few warm tears spilled down her cheeks. "Come back, Yusuke..." she murmured to herself before seeking comfort from the bottle in her hands.

* * *

Yusuke wasn't the only one having a rocky time. Kurama sat on his bed, feeling very wrong about leaving his human mother alone. Of course he'd gone off before but never for an overly extended period of time. She relied on him a great deal. How was he going to tell her that he was going away indefinitely? 

He knew that Koenma would make sure that she was guarded but it wasn't enough for him. After such a rough relationship with her throughout his human childhood, he had finally grown close to her. He found now that he desired time with her. How ironic, since he was about to leave and he had no idea when he would see her next.

He knew that he couldn't stall any longer and he made his way to her, finding her watering their indoor plants. "Mother?" he asked softly.

Shiori turned to him, offering him the same warm smile that she had always held for him. "Yes, sweetheart?"

This only served to make him feel worse but he maintained an even expression and tone. "I have to tell you something," he said, looking grave enough to concern her.

"What's the matter, Shuuichi?" she asked, setting down the watering pitcher and giving him her complete attention. She wasn't accustomed to seeing him so forlorn. The only other time she'd ever seen him this despondent was when her health was failing. She waited patiently for him to speak.

Kurama drew in a deep but even breath. "I've been given the chance at a rare opportunity...to study abroad as part of an exchange program," he said calmly, though he loathed lying to her.

Shiori visibly relaxed. "Oh, that doesn't sound so bad. In fact, it's quite an honor to be given such an opportunity," she said with a smile but the serious look she received from her son caused her smile to falter.

Kurama frowned ever so slightly. "There is a problem. I was notified very late...yesterday in fact... and now if I am to go, I must leave today. I would have told you last night when I got back but I did not wish to wake you." It all sounded so ridiculous but what else was he to say? He'd given the matter as much thought as possible in such a short time and there really was no better story to tell her.

Shiori blinked as she tried to process everything. "Is...is this something you really want?" she asked softly.

Kurama blinked once slowly. "I cannot afford to refuse this trip," he said, choosing his words to satisfy the slight bitterness he harbored, though he tempered his tone carefully.

Shiori sighed, smiling sweetly at him. "Then don't refuse it."

Kurama could see so much emotion in her eyes. But she always put him first. She always had. He could only admire her all the more for her selflessness. "What about you?" he asked.

Shiori drew him into a hug. "Don't worry about me. I'll be fine! Don't let me stand in the way, Shuuichi. Never think that you have to pass up on something for my sake. Life is out there waiting for you and you have the intelligence and the charisma to do anything you want. You can't keep letting concern for me hold you back, ok?"

Kurama sighed and returned her embrace. To him, she was the essence of what was good about humanity. When he pulled back, he nodded solemnly. "I will always worry about you, Mother...but I know that the best way to thank you for all that you've done is to be someone that you can be proud of."

Shiori beamed a special smile at him and caressed his hair. "And I'm more proud of you than you can ever know...now you had better get busy...you've got a lot to do if you're leaving for this trip today."

Kurama smiled and nodded, feeling more than a little relieved. After that, he finished preparing and then said his final goodbyes, hoping that she would be alright without him.

* * *

**  
Additional notes:** I know that this chapter was short and seemed a bit extraneous but seeing as how most of the character interaction will take place in the past after this, I wanted to explore the relationships in the present time a bit before proceeding. Besides, none of them knows if they'll be able to come back freely or not and it only makes sense to give some deference to the weight of that implication. 


	6. And Whom May I Say Is Calling?

**The Celestial Tiger's Notes: **Originally, this chapter was going to be REALLY long, but I thought it got a bit exhaustive at 15 pages in Word so I divided it at what I considered the most logical breaking point. I'm actually still editing the second part so at least by spanning it into two chapters, I can post something a little sooner.

Just to let everyone know, I do have a master plot for this worked out. I'm not just rambling aimlessly (at least not where the story is concerned).

Thanks for humoring me and reading my drivel!

* * *

**Chapter 6: And Whom May I Say Is Calling? **

Yusuke glanced at the little piece of paper that Koenma had given him with the address of the Higurashi Shrine. _'It has to be close by now,'_ he thought, looking ahead again. Just then, he caught a glimpse of three figures congregated down the way a bit. _'AHA! That must be the place!' _He bridged the distance with a quick jog, waving and grinning. "Hey! And I thought I was going to be the early one!"

Genkai, Kurama and Kuwabara stood at the foot of the steps that led up to the shrine. Kuwabara grinned as Yusuke came trotting up and replied, "Yeah, well...we kinda just got here ourselves." He looked at his watch. "We got about ten minutes left."

Kurama looked around, an expression of concentration on his face. "Odd...Hiei isn't here yet."

"He's probably trying to avoid being around us until he absolutely has to," Kuwabara scoffed.

Yusuke elbowed Kuwabara, a mischievous smirk on his face. "I think it's more like he's avoiding being around you."

Kuwabara clenched his teeth. "Up yours, Urameshi!" he growled in Yusuke's face.

Genkai pushed Yusuke and Kuwabara apart, giving them both warning looks. "Knock it off, morons! Both of you shut up or I'll kick my foot up your asses!" Yusuke and Kuwabara resorted to glaring at each other while Kurama chuckled to himself. They never ceased to amuse him.

The minutes passed in relative quiet after that. As the four fighters stood in silence, they began to give more consideration to the matter at hand. Their hearts steadily became heavier as they reflected on what this mission could mean for each of them and for existence itself. It was no small task.

They watched as a light breeze danced over the grass and gently persuaded the leafy branches of the trees to sway. The sun was bright and puffy white clouds floated slowly and gracefully across the sky. They heard the songs of birds and sounds of life all around them.

"And to think," Yusuke said grimly, finally breaking the long silence. "... this'll all be gone if we fail." He looked around, shielding his eyes as the sun reemerged from behind a cottony cloud. He then looked at the expressions of his friends and smiled. "Sorry to be so morbid. It really is a nice day. I shouldn't ruin it by imagining the worst."

Kurama angled his face up toward the sun's rays and closed his eyes, bathing in the warmth. "I believe that we were all thinking about it, Yusuke. The stakes will always be high and the consequences of failure severe...but we've accomplished the impossible against all odds before. We can't start doubting ourselves now."

"Red's right," Kuwabara affirmed, though his tone was serious instead of strident with forced cheer. "No use frettin' over it." He took a deep, cleansing breath and stretched. Then he looked back at his watch. "Besides...time's up. It's one o'clock."

Kurama lowered his face from the sun and opened his eyes, shifting his gaze away as something seemed to catch his attention. Then a small smile lifted the corners of his mouth. "Ah...right on time," he said in a more lighthearted tone.

No sooner had Kurama finished speaking than Hiei landed in their midst, his red eyes quickly skimming over everyone. "Where's the brat?" he demanded irreverently.

Yusuke shook his head and smirked. "Nice to see you too Hiei...and we haven't seen Koenma yet."

After three more minutes of waiting, Hiei grew very impatient. He frowned, his eyes narrowing in disapproval. "It is well past the appointed time. He's late."

Yusuke shrugged. "I wouldn't put it past the toddler to be late if he thinks it'll earn him extra attention. You know how overly dramatic he is."

Just then, an unmistakable nasally voice came from behind Yusuke. "Didn't anyone ever tell you not to talk about people behind their backs? It's terribly rude!" Everyone turned to see Koenma standing there in his teenage form, wearing clothing even more regal than his usual fare. If it weren't for the pacifier, he would actually look very stately. Botan stood beside him, waving cheerfully at everyone.

Yusuke snorted a laugh and then gave Koenma a wry look. "I wasn't behind your back, you were behind mine. And what's with the monkey suit? Who are you trying to impress?"

Koenma growled but Botan giggled. "Oh, he's putting his best face forward!" she said with a playful smile. "His father's due back today, remember!"

Koenma cast a contemptuous glare at Botan. "I'm glad you anticipate my suffering with such delight, Botan! Now can we please just stick to business?"

"Yes, we came here to do something, so let's get it over with," Hiei interjected impatiently. For once, Koenma was grateful for Hiei's impertinence since it effectively put an end to that conversation and any further comments Botan might have been planning to make. With that, all seven of them ascended the stairs in silence.

When they crested the top of the stairs, they were met with an unexpected sight. In the shade of a tree was Keiko sitting on top of a small suitcase. "Keiko!" Yusuke blurted. "What the hell? How on earth did you find this place? Koenma didn't give you the directions!"

Keiko stood, holding up a piece of computer printer paper. "The name of the shrine was mentioned last night. I just looked up the address online."

Yusuke groaned. "You're way too resourceful, you know that?" he muttered.

Keiko smiled dryly. "It's a good thing too, with the way everybody sneaks around me."

Botan then gasped as if something had suddenly occurred to her. "Hey, shouldn't you be in school right now, Keiko?" she asked pointedly.

Keiko sighed but then that familiar look of determination came over her face. "I did a lot of thinking last night," she said matter-of-factly. "I just couldn't get any peace until I decided to come. I know it sounds crazy, but my heart tells me I have to."

Koenma frowned and shook his head. "We've been over this, Keiko. You can't go!"

Keiko drew in a deep breath and steeled her resolve. "I'll sign a waver or something, but my mind's made up. And as for being useless…" She didn't dare look at Hiei, who she was certain was giving her a derisive look. "…I know what I can do to help. I'll keep Puu."

After a moment of stunned silence, Yusuke finally spoke up. "What are you talking about?" he asked incredulously.

Keiko gave him a slightly impatient look. "Just what I said! I'll keep Puu for you…you can't keep him with you when you fight and it's dangerous to just leave him sitting around somewhere. He's a part of you and you can't afford to be irresponsible with him. I can stay away from any battles and keep Puu safe with me. Then you won't have to worry about protecting either one of us."

Yusuke blinked in surprise, not really able to combat her reasoning. Koenma, however, pleaded to her with his expression. "Please, Keiko! It's very dangerous and who knows how long you could be gone! It's even possible that you might not ever be able to come back!"

Keiko shook her head. "I don't care! I'm tired of sitting on the sidelines. If the others can take that risk, then so can I! Besides, I've already made up a story to my parents. All you have to do is make the same arrangements for me that you made for Yusuke, Kuwabara, and Kurama so that I don't fall behind in school."

Koenma closed his eyes for a moment, looking very unhappy. After a bit of grumbling in the back of his throat, he finally muttered, "I can't believe I'm doing this." He materialized a rolled scroll and held it out to Keiko. "It's a waver, basically saying that it's entirely your choice to go and that I'm absolved of any responsibility in the matter."

Keiko nodded and took the scroll, unrolling it and glancing over it quickly. She then signed it and rolled it up again, handing it back to him with a satisfied smile. Koenma sighed miserably. "I just know I'm going to regret this," he whined, the scroll vanishing once again.

"Weak-willed fool…" Hiei started, but Kurama cut him off by addressing the group with, "Well, now that this matter is settled, let us continue." Keiko picked up her suitcase and everyone proceeded onward.

Hiei fell into step beside Kurama and shot an angry sidelong glare at him. Kurama kept his eyes forward but calmly remarked, "It might not be the best idea to insult the person in charge of your parole. Besides, what's done is done and enough time has already been spent on deliberation."

"Hn," Hiei huffed and shifted his glare forward. "For being so urgent, this whole thing has been a farce of wasting time and catering to weakness."

Kurama sighed, but his expression remained even. "Sometimes preparations are necessary, Hiei…you know that. As for Keiko…she is responsible for her own actions. She puts a lot of thought into everything she does. I doubt very much that she is entering into this based on a mere whim." Hiei merely grunted in response this time and their conversation was over.

After a few more steps, Kurama suddenly veered, seemingly in awe as he detoured toward a very large tree. The others noticed this and glanced at him questioningly. Kurama stared at it and then smiled. "This tree is very old…it holds great power," he said almost to himself. He reached out and placed his hand against the trunk, an expression of wonderment on his face. "It is rare to find a tree so powerful in this world."

Yusuke grinned naughtily and raised an eyebrow. "Should we leave you and the…_tree_…alone?" This elicited quiet snickering from everyone else except Hiei and Genkai, who didn't find Yusuke's joke amusing.

Kurama merely smirked and moved to rejoin the group. "Admittedly, I would have liked more time to study it…perhaps later." He cast one more glance back at it and then they all moved onward again.

Once at the door of the house, Koenma suddenly seemed hesitant. He started to fidget, extending and withdrawing his hand from the door like a child wary about carrying through with a prank. After a moment, Yusuke huffed and elbowed past him, knocking heavily on the door. "Don't you dare wimp out on us, you little weenie!" he griped, shoving Koenma right up to the door and then stepping back again.

Koenma turned and glared at Yusuke as he smoothed out his clothing. "How dare you touch me, you snotty little bast…" Just then the door clicked to open and Koenma's eyes snapped forward as he instantly straightened.

An elderly man cracked the door slightly ajar and peered out at the odd looking strangers on the other side. "If you've come to visit the shrine, you're in the wrong place. It's over there," he said, pointing quickly before retracting his hand. "This is my house."

Koenma cleared his throat and assumed his most formal demeanor. "Actually, we came in search of the person who runs the shrine. Might that be you?"

The old man behind the door eyed him suspiciously, his eyes lingering a bit on the ornate pacifier that decorated Koenma's mouth. "I am the priest of this shrine, yes…and who are you?"

Koenma nodded to him and then replied, "This may sound very strange, but I am Lord Koenma, Prince of the Spirit World." He puffed up a bit, looking self-important.

The old man's eyes narrowed in inspection and then he grunted. "I have no time for pranks…you kids go home."

Koenma deflated but he didn't back down. "I wish this were a joke, Sir, but I'm quite serious. I wouldn't have even come myself but we have a very grave situation on our hands."

The old priest's brow furrowed and he opened the door a bit wider to get a good look at this impertinent youth. "Persistent aren't you? What do you take me for? This is a holy place! I won't tolerate your disrespect, now you go on home before I call the authorities!"

Just then, Yusuke shoved forward again and shook his fist at the priest. "LISTEN UP, YOU OLD FART!" he yelled irreverently. "IF YOU HADN'T SCREWED UP IN THE FIRST PLACE, WE WOULDN'T EVEN HAVE TO BE HERE SO YOU CAN JUST BLOW IT OUT YOUR…."

"YUSUKE!" Keiko shouted angrily, hitting Yusuke hard on the back of the head while Kuwabara and Kurama each grabbed an arm and dragged him away from the door.

The old priest stood there in shock for a moment and then his expression changed to agitation. "What in the world are you talking about?" he asked brusquely.

Koenma sighed, his patience now running thin because of Yusuke's behavior. "There is a temporal gate somewhere on these premises! Are you or are you not the one who has been traveling through time?" he asked rather curtly, skipping straight to the point. At this, the old man's expression changed once again to shock. He even seemed to pale slightly. _'Got you!'_ thought Koenma triumphantly.

The old priest then opened the door all the way, stepping aside and gesturing inward. "Come inside," he said, his voice laced with uncertainty. "Perhaps we do need to talk after all."

* * *

**Additional notes: **I don't know if Kuwabara ever called Kurama 'Red' in the show, but I thought it was a cute nickname. Besides, assigning nicknames seems to be befitting of Kuwabara's character so I decided to declare it so. 


	7. Getting to Know You

**The Celestial Tiger's Notes: **This is what would have been the second part of chapter 6, had I left it all together. Sorry that it's taken so long. I've been very sick with a viral infection and didn't have the strength to sit up and write. Besides, I've learned not to write when I'm sick. It always turns out poorly.

Oh. It was mentioned to me that Keiko's name should be spelled Kayko, according to the official site. I did notice this name discrepancy when I did my preliminary research for writing this story so I did some digging before I ever typed the first word. The spelling 'Kayko' is a Funimation instigation. It is their official site that puts forth this spelling, and they are notorious for slaughtering both names and translations. This being the case, I looked up the characters on the official Japanese site and referenced the kanji for her name. It is the kanji for the name Keiko, which is the real Japanese name. In any case, whichever spelling you use, they're probably both acceptable in fandom. :)

* * *

**Chapter 7: Getting to Know You **

With luck, Kagome had managed to rid herself of her friends and of Hojo and she enjoyed her walk home in peace. She was starting to fall back into the routine of school again and despite still having a ton of catch-up work to do, she was in a much better mood than she had been in two days ago. She even smiled as she felt the sun on her face and the breeze gently lift her hair. _'It's been kinda nice being home for a change,'_ she thought to herself. _'I nearly forgot what it was like to lead a normal life!'_

Kagome hummed softly as she began the climb up the stairs to the shrine. She slowed midway, however, her eyes narrowing slightly as she concentrated. She felt something odd. It wasn't hostile but it was unfamiliar and therefore disconcerting. The feeling increased as she approached her own house and she opened the door cautiously. "Hello?" she called out warily. "Grandfather? Mom? Souta? Are you home?" She then listened intently.

"Yes, Kagome!" replied the voice of her grandfather. "In here!" Kagome followed the sound until she found her family sitting with a rather large group of people.

"Oh, I didn't know we had company……." she started but then her eyes landed on three familiar faces. "YOU!" she exclaimed in alarm.

"YOU!" Yusuke and Kuwabara echoed together. Keiko was silent, but the surprise was evident on her face. Yusuke stood, pointing at Kagome. "**_That's_** her? You mean to tell me **_she's_** the one who screwed everything up? Figures!"

Kagome's mouth worked silently for a few seconds and then she found her voice again, her face hardening as anger set in. "What are you talking about? I haven't done anything wrong! Just who do you think you are coming into our home and making accusations? You're about as rude as they come! I was right, you are a hooligan!"

Yusuke clenched his teeth at her. "And I was right, you are a bitch!"

Keiko reached forward and furiously yanked Yusuke's arm, pulling him back down onto the couch. "Yusuke! I can't believe you just said that!" she said scathingly.

Kuwabara punched Yusuke in the other arm. "Yeah, Urameshi! You're the one that started it…again!"

Everyone looked back and forth between the arguing teenagers. "You…know these people, Kagome?" her grandfather asked in surprise.

Kagome's lips were tight and she looked as if she were struggling not to explode. "Only them," she said pointing to Kuwabara and Keiko, and adding a hateful glare as she pointed at Yusuke. "That is…we've met before."

Yusuke snorted. "Met! You mean you yelled at us!"

Souta snickered before he thought better of it. "That sounds like Kagome alright!" A wicked glare from Kagome and a severe look from Mrs. Higurashi made him shrink back down into his seat.

Kagome then looked around at all of the people staring at her. Why were the loud jerk and his friends here? And who were all of these other people? She was sensing some very strange things and her fury gave way to confusion. "Will **_somebody_** **_PLEASE_** tell me what's going on?" she wailed.

At this prompt, Koenma stood and bowed politely. "I'm sure that you must be very confused, Kagome. Please sit down…we have a lot to talk about."

Kagome stared for a moment at the pacifier in his mouth. "Why do you have a…" she started to ask, pointing at it.

"Never mind about that," Koenma cut her off hastily. Yusuke snickered under his breath which earned him an elbow from Keiko and a glare from Koenma.

Kagome blinked in surprise but finally sat, staring apprehensively at all of the new faces. Aside from the loud jerk, the guy with the gruff voice, the Keiko girl and the overdressed guy with the pacifier, there was a cheery-looking girl with blue hair, a stern-faced elderly woman who she thought looked familiar, an attractive redhead with a gentle expression, and a little scowling guy with spiky black hair and cold eyes.

Kagome's eyes eventually came back to the guy with the pacifier and he smiled. "Now then," he said when he saw that he had her attention again. "I suppose we should start with introductions. I am Lord Koenma, Prince of the Spirit World."

Kagome blinked slowly, not entirely sure that she had heard him correctly. "Spirit World? You mean the afterlife?" she asked in disbelief. Koenma smiled and nodded. Kagome looked at him strangely. "**_You're_** the ruler of the afterlife?" she asked skeptically.

Before Koenma could reply, the girl with the blue hair leaned forward and giggled. "Sort of! He's the prince! His father's the big guy!"

Koenma growled slightly and scowled at the blue-haired girl. "This motor mouth is Botan, and she's here as my **_assistant_**," he said, giving her a sharp look.

"Sorry Sir!" Botan responded more subdued, but she still had an air of playfulness in her voice. Then she waved at Kagome cheerfully and said, "Hi! I'm actually a Spirit World ferry girl! What you might call the Grim Reaper! But don't worry, I'm off duty from that job at the moment!"

Kagome raised an eyebrow. "What a relief," she said somewhat flatly. The Grim Reaper was a bubbly, chatty young woman? Yeah, right! She believed that about as much as she believed that this pacifier-sucking weirdo was the guy in charge of the spiritual realm.

Koenma cleared his throat and all eyes returned to him. "To answer your previous question…for all practical purposes, I am the ruler of Spirit World." He glanced at Botan warily but when she showed no more signs of interjecting, he nodded and continued. "Now, I know it must be quite a big deal having me in your house, but please don't grovel at my feet or let my awesome presence intimidate you."

Kagome just couldn't take this guy seriously...and his own friends didn't seem to be helping his credibility. A sound that suspiciously resembled snickering came from the direction of Yusuke and Kuwabara. Even Kurama seemed to be covering his mouth and fighting back the urge to smile. Hiei merely rolled his eyes and huffed.

Koenma glared sourly at them. "Are we forgetting our debts, gentlemen?" he nearly hissed. All four immediately went silent and Koenma nodded arrogantly. "That's better. Now…the rest of you go ahead and introduce yourselves."

When no one else volunteered to go first, the short elderly woman stood. "I am Genkai," she said with a simple bow.

"Genkai? _THE_ Genkai?" Kagome exclaimed. Genkai merely nodded and sat back down. "Wow! No wonder you looked so familiar! It's an honor to meet you!" Kagome breathed. Genkai smiled ever so slightly and gave a tiny head nod.

Souta practically bounced in his chair. "Isn't that cool, Sis? The REAL Genkai! In our home! Can you believe it?" Kagome beamed, sharing her brother's awe.

Any family with a spiritual background had heard of Genkai, a warrior with legendary strength and spiritual power. Considering the ridiculousness of the claims of the two previous identities, Kagome would not have believed this one to be true if she had not seen pictures of Genkai before. But there was no mistake...her appearance was quite unique. This had to be the real Genkai.

That did raise an obvious question, however. Why would the legendary Genkai be sitting in her living room along with the (snicker, snicker) so-called ruler of the Spirit World and the alleged Grim Reaper? And what did any of them have to do with the loud jerk and his friends? She was sure she'd get an explanation sooner or later so she just decided to be patient and go with the flow.

After the excitement over Genkai had abated, the gruff-voiced guy gently took a contended Buyo off of his lap and then stood and bowed dramatically. "I'm Kazuma Kuwabara but you can just call me Kuwabara…everybody else does." He seemed to be a bit of a ham, but he was sort of sweet in a goofy way.

Just then, Buyo started purring and rubbing on his legs. Kuwabara scooped Buyo up and nuzzled him. "I love your cat! He's so cute and squishable!" he said with a silly grin. Then he glanced around and noticed that he was getting strange looks. He hastily set Buyo back down on the floor and shuffled his feet a bit. "Anyway...um...good to meet you formally, Miss."

Kagome resisted the urge to giggle. "Nice to meet you formally too, Kuwabara," she said with a sincere smile.

Kuwabara chuckled and then sat back down. He actually felt relieved. Now that he knew she was the granddaughter of a priest, it explained why he sensed spiritual power from her. He knew he hadn't been imagining things the other day in the restaurant! He made a point to gloat about it later to Urameshi.

Next, it was Yusuke's turned to introduce himself and he crossed his arms instead of standing. "Yusuke Urameshi. My name is known by students in every school in this city. You must have heard of me," he said with a demeaning edge to his voice.

Kagome pursed her lips. "Um…the world's most…obnoxious jerk?" she replied sarcastically. Almost everyone snickered at this. Even Hiei fought the temptation to smirk.

Yusuke glared at her. "Ha ha! Very funny! I'll have you know that I'm feared on the streets as the most dangerous guy in the city!"

Kagome raised an eyebrow at him. "All that proves is that you're a thug."

Yusuke started to turn red as he grew more and more irritated. "Ok…how about this, then…I'm the strongest guy in the world and I've saved this whole world, which includes you in it…so you might want to be a little nicer to me!"

Kagome blinked once at him and then directed her attention to the girl sitting beside him. "Your name was Keiko, wasn't it?" she asked sweetly.

Yusuke sputtered at being so blatantly dismissed but Keiko didn't give him the chance to speak. "Yes," she said, clamping her hand over his mouth. "Keiko Yukimura. Sorry that we have to keep meeting under such unpleasant circumstances." Yusuke mumbled unintelligible sounds into Keiko's hand for a moment and then resorted to pouting.

Kagome then smiled. "Don't worry about it," she said kindly. She definitely liked Keiko. Here was a girl after her own heart. She didn't have a sit command for her jerk but she somehow managed to subdue him nonetheless.

Next, the redhead stood and offered a graceful bow. "Please call me Kurama. It is nice to meet you, Kagome."

Kagome smiled brightly at him. It was odd that he didn't give a last name but at least he was well-mannered! "Wonderful to meet you, Kurama!" she replied warmly.

Kurama returned her smile and then indicated the short young man next sitting next to him. "This is Hiei." Again no last name. Hiei made no effort to acknowledge the introduction. He merely glared at Kurama for drawing attention to him.

Kagome regarded Hiei uncertainly. "Um…nice to meet you?" she tried.

Hiei then spared her a cold glance. "I have no use for pleasantries," he said, his voice quiet but forbidding. Kagome blinked in surprise and quickly turned her attention away from him. She thought in passing that he reminded her of Sesshoumaru.

With all of the introductions finally done on the visitors' parts, Kagome then sighed and shrugged. "Ok…well...I guess there's no need to introduce myself. You all seem to know who I am already."

Koenma, who had finally recovered from being slighted earlier, spoke in response to Kagome's statement. "Yes, we know who you are…and I imagine you'd like to know why we're all here."

Kagome nodded vigorously. Finally she was going to get an explanation! Even if this guy was a joke, she wanted to hear a reason for this...peculiar visit.

Koenma suddenly became very serious, however. The graveness in his eyes made her feel uncomfortable. "We've come," he said austerely, "…because of your journeys in time."

Kagome's heart skipped a beat. **_"What?" _**she spurted, hardly able to believe what she'd just heard.

Koenma remained patient. "Let me start again," he said. "We came here because we found evidence of a temporal gate…in other words, a time portal."

Kagome paled and sank back in her seat. _ 'The well! But how does he know?' _She knew that her family wouldn't just volunteer that secret to strangers. But then how did he find out about it? Was it possible that he might just really be who he said he was?

Koenma interrupted her thoughts with a deep sigh and then he continued. "We also found out that someone has been traveling through time, more specifically to the past…some 500 years ago. From what your family tells me, it's you."

Kagome then stiffened, feeling as if she were being scrutinized. She turned to her family. "Then...**_you_** told him about everything?" she squeaked, almost hopeful that this was the case.

Her grandfather shook his head. "No, Kagome. The only thing we told him is that you're the one who's been going back in time. He already knew everything else. I was skeptical at first, but while we were waiting on you to come home, we all had a lot of time to talk. I believe that these people are who they say they are."

Kagome gulped, suddenly taking everything very seriously. Then he really was the ruler of Spirit World! The last thing she needed was to be in trouble with the supernatural realm! "Yes…I'm the one…but…but what's the problem?" she stammered. "It's not illegal is it? If I did something wrong, I'm sorry! I didn't know!"

Koenma held up a hand to quiet her. "I know that, but you've accidentally created quite a problem. Something you did is causing history between then and now to change. You see, one of the things we do in Spirit World is…control…the demon population within this world. Originally, we were able to banish most of the malevolent demons that existed here but since you started traveling through time, history is beginning to rewrite itself. From what I can tell, something tipped the balance of power overwhelmingly in the demons' favor."

Kagome slumped back dolefully. "The Shikon Jewel!" she lamented, feeling absolutely miserable.

Koenma's brow furrowed. "Shikon Jewel…why does that sound familiar?" he pondered aloud, a hint of anxiousness in his voice. Then recognition lit his face. "I remember! It's a rather small spherical object, right?" Kagome nodded in confirmation.

Koenma became very thoughtful. "As I recall, it supposedly held unbelievable power and was sought after by human and demon alike…but nothing ever became of it because it was well guarded against theft. Then one day it just disappeared, never to be seen again. None of our records indicate what happened to it." He then looked at Kagome. "Now, after centuries, it suddenly resurfaces…and has some part in this whole mess. Perhaps you'd better explain everything from the beginning, Kagome."

Kagome gulped and then closed her eyes for a moment, drawing in a deep breath. "The time portal you mentioned is through an ancient well within the shrine. The first time I went through it, which was an accident by the way, I was immediately attacked by a demon. It injured me and the jewel came out of my body."

"The jewel was **_in_** your body?" Keiko asked in surprise.

Kagome nodded. "Yes. I found out then that I'm the reincarnation of the powerful priestess who had been charged with the task of guarding the jewel. When she died, she took the jewel with her in death. Somehow, because I'm her reincarnation, I ended up…inheriting it. But it was in my body and I didn't even know until it was literally ripped out of me."

Koenma sighed, finally understanding everything. "So when you went back in time, you reintroduced the Shikon Jewel into history," he said heavily.

Kagome nodded. "Yes. The well put me there 50 years after the priestess had died, but everybody was still looking for it."

Koenma's expression then became very grave. "This is very important, Kagome. Where is it now?"

Kagome made a guilty face and then shifted nervously. "Umm…well…I shattered it by accident and…"

Yusuke suddenly sat bolt upright. **_"Shattered it? What do you mean you shattered it?" _**

Kagome scowled at him. "I said it was an accident! I was trying to get it away from a demon and it broke into pieces and scattered all across the countryside."

"How did you manage to break it, if I may ask," Kurama asked curiously.

Kagome covered her face with her hands. "I shot an arrow at the demon that was making off with it."

"An arrow?" asked Botan in surprise. "How could an arrow do that?"

Kagome still had her face covered. "I charged it with spiritual power."

"You have **_that_** much power?" Kuwabara asked, his eyes wide. "No wonder you set off the tickle feeling!"

Kagome peered through her fingers at him. "Tickle feeling?"

Kuwabara blushed slightly. "Oh...heh heh...that's what I call it when I sense spirit power. I've got a high awareness of that kind of thing."

"Oh," Kagome said, finally pulling her hands away from her face. "Well...I think a lot of mine comes from being the reincarnation of a priestess. I'm not as powerful as her, though." She sighed. "In fact, that day I shattered the jewel, I didn't even know what I was doing. I charged it by accident. Until that day, I didn't even know I had any powers."

"Can you control it now?" asked Kurama. It seemed like an innocent question but every warrior in the group understood the importance of that question. Would she be useful? If so, how useful?

Kagome nodded. "Yes, I can. Pretty well, actually," she replied, daring to feel a little proud of herself.

Kurama smiled at her. "Very good," he complimented. Even Hiei, who had been avoiding making eye contact as much as possible, was now looking at her with the faintest hint of curiosity. He wanted to know how extensive her power was.

Koenma cleared his throat again. "I think we're getting a bit off track here. Ok, so you shattered the jewel, Kagome. What about after that?"

Kagome sat back, looking weary. "Well, along with…some other people from that era, we're trying to collect the shards so that we can reassemble the jewel. We had actually found a good portion of it but a very powerful demon named Naraku got hold of it. Now all we have is a few shards while he's got most of it."

"Naraku?" Koenma asked, his brow furrowing. "Tell us about him."

Kagome sighed heavily. "He's as bad as they come. He's pure evil…powerful, manipulative and bent on making everyone suffer. He wants to complete the jewel and use it to become…all powerful, I guess."

Koenma closed his eyes gravely. "Then it's as I feared. If something isn't done, he could accomplish that goal…and humanity will be destroyed. The changes in history that have already happened are indications that things are heading in that direction."

Kagome gasped. "I had no idea that my going back in time could be responsible for something like that!"

"Not every day you find out you could be responsible for the destruction of the world," Yusuke jeered.

Keiko elbowed Yusuke again. "That's enough! Stop trying to make her feel worse!"

Kagome looked to Koenma. "I'm sure it can be stopped! My friends and I are fighting Naraku as hard as we can and he doesn't have the whole jewel yet! He never will, if we can help it."

Koenma nodded. "It's good to know that you're already trying to do something. We plan to do our part too. That's ultimately why we're here. I'm sending my team with you."

Yusuke clenched a fist and smacked it into his other hand. "Let's go kick this Naraku prick's ass!"

Kagome blinked in surprise. "What? With me?"

Kuwabara grinned. "Yeah, we're all here to help!"

Before Kagome could ask any more questions, Koenma cut her off. "Let me explain," he said hastily. "Yusuke is a spirit detective…he aids the Spirit World by helping us catch malevolent demons that have managed to infiltrate the human world. You see, in this day in age, we don't let demons inhabit this world freely like they use to and Yusuke's job…well…the whole team's job…is to safeguard this world from evil. I called them all to intervene in this situation because we can't afford to take any chances…nothing less than the existence of humanity is at stake."

"I see," Kagome said, trying not to let herself become overwhelmed. But as she took a moment for everything to sink in, her face suddenly sparked with recollection and she looked up at Yusuke. "That explains the crack you made about the demons…the other day…"

Yusuke made an odd face and then sniffed slightly. "Yeah…nobody else was supposed to hear that," he said coolly.

Kagome flushed but then became obstinate. "Yeah, well…you weren't actually being very careful, were you?" she snapped back.

Koenma clapped his hands to get everyone's attention. "Enough arguing! You're all going to have to learn to work with each other! Now….I think that we've discussed everything so there's no more need to delay. You all need to go as soon as possible." He looked directly at Kagome. "Does the well have a window of activity?"

"Window?" Kagome asked in confusion. "You mean, like only working at a certain time?" Koenma nodded in confirmation and then Kagome shook her head in response. "No, I can go through it any time. I think it has something to do with the jewel's power."

"That would actually explain a lot," Koenma said thoughtfully. "It seems to be linked to every aspect of this mess."

Yusuke then leaned forward. "Hey!" he said, sounding very happy. "Did you guys hear that? The portal will let us come and go at any time!"

"That doesn't mean that I will," Koenma retorted sharply. "You have a mission to do. You're not just going to be allowed to time hop at your leisure!" Yusuke made a sour face and flopped back resentfully. Koenma then tuned back to Kagome. "I don't know when you had originally planned to return, but it really should be today."

Kagome sighed. "Well...I was going to stay home a couple more days...I have so much school work to catch up on...what am I saying? What's homework compared to the fate of humanity?"

Keiko waved briefly at Koenma to get his attention. "Would it be possible to make the same arrangements for Kagome that you did for us?"

Koenma groaned. "Sure, what's one more?" he muttered somewhat sarcastically.

Kagome looked at them in confusion. "What arrangements?"

"I will have your work collected for you so that you can keep up with it more readily," Koenma explained. "Then I'll have Botan deliver it to you about once a week."

"Wait," Kuwabara interrupted. "Botan's not coming with us?"

"Of course not, silly!" Botan replied with a giggle. "I still have a job to do here! Oh, don't worry, I'll see you guys when I make delivery runs!"

Koenma then stood up. "Alright. I am officially declaring this meeting to be over."

Kagome stood almost instantly. "I'll go get ready to go! I'll meet you guys at the well. Can you show it to them?" she asked her grandfather and with that, she ran off to her room.

The old priest stood up. "Follow me," he said solemnly and with that, everyone filed out of the house and made their way to the infamous well.

* * *

**Additional notes:** If you guys have any questions, please don't hesitate to ask. I might have forgotten to explain some stuff...or something that I thought was straightforward might have been confusing. Anyway, I hope that I was able to communicate what I was trying to without dragging it out excessively. 

Also, I'm sure you've noticed that I'm not using the Japanese conventions for name order and I'm not using Japanese terms, i.e. Shikon Jewel instead of Shikon no Tama. That's because I'm treating this as if it's a translation. In a translation, you wouldn't mix Japanese words in with English unless there is no English equivalent for a word or concept. My main reason in doing this is because this story is going to be so big that I really don't want the burden of keeping up with correct Japanese terminology in addition to keeping up with the scope of the plot itself.


	8. Down the Well, With Passengers

**The Celestial Tiger's Notes: **Tons of notes this time. I want to start by apologizing for not updating in such a long time. Not only have I had my attention split between writing and building a website, it turns out that the viral infection I mentioned before wasn't actually a viral infection but rather gallbladder problems. I'm feeling ill off and on and it's making it very hard to keep up with all of my creative ventures. I'm sure a report on my health is of little concern because none of you know me at all but I just wanted to explain why chapters are taking so long and to assure everyone that I haven't put this story on the shelf. It's just very slow-going for the time being. Now on to business.

I went back and reformatted all of the previous chapters and made a few grammatical corrections and occasional minor alterations to wording. As I've said before, I'm somewhat obsessive/compulsive and it was driving me crazy so I fixed it.

I was asked more than once about pairings. Since I am trying to maintain the feel and flow of the actual shows, the pairings are conventional: Yusuke/Keiko, Inuyasha/Kagome, Miroku/Sango, etc. The pairings in the story aren't really its focus, but since I do deal with relationships on all levels, there will, of course, be a fair amount of romantic exploration. In addition, there will be some character attractions that will naturally be formed and possibly experimented with to add to either humor or angst, but no pairings will be permanently formed that supersede the conventional ones.

Despite the fact that I haven't seen that far into the show, I researched enough to know that Yusuke has dormant demon blood in him. This will be alluded to but not dealt with since that part of him hasn't been unlocked yet as this story takes place well before those events. Therefore, it's not something that can be readily sensed... it just gives him an unidentifiable difference. I knew that things would seem amiss if I didn't address this issue in some form.

**Another self-promotion alert!** I have a new Kurama-centric Yu Yu Hakusho fic up entitled, _"The Lessons of Humanity." _It's a story about what it was like for Youko Kurama to become human. In essence, it's my take on Kurama's childhood and the war between his human and demon spirits. What exactly did he do to cause his mother such a horrible illness? That's what I address. It's going to be a very angsty story.

I also have a couple of miscellaneous one-shots that you can check out through my profile. They're short and humorous and worth reading.

Last thing, I promise!

A gigantic thanks to all of you who read and review! Your feedback and opinions are very much valued and appreciated and I'm thrilled that you like this story! One little request...if you can, please say more than just 'update soon' when you review. This isn't a complaint, just a respectful request. I like tangible feedback. Tell me a part that you liked or didn't like, or maybe some humor that made you laugh...anything will do. I just want to get a feel for what appeals to my readers the most so that I know what to use and what to avoid in future chapters. Thankee muchly! I'll shut up now, since I've been blah-blahing far too long.

* * *

**Chapter 8: Down the Well...With Passengers **

Kagome was a whirlwind as she frantically stuffed her backpack to the brim with supplies and school books. She couldn't help but be anxious about leaving on such short notice, but she didn't have a choice. Everyone was waiting for her.

She wasn't even sure that everything had properly sunk in yet. She was about to take a group of very peculiar strangers back to the past with her. What would her friends there think? How could she explain this to them? It was complicated enough even for her. How would Inuyasha even begin to comprehend this?

Inuyasha...Lord Koenma had mentioned a banishment of demons from this world that presumably took place somewhere between the time she was traveling back to and the present. That was why she never saw any demons in her time. But...did that include Inuyasha? Shippou? Kirara? They were demons. Were they banished to some place when that happened?

Kagome paused for a moment and sat down heavily on her bed. She couldn't imagine her friends being ripped away from the only world they had ever known and sent to some horrible place. They shouldn't suffer the same fate as all of the bad demons...they were trying to save humanity!

Kagome took a deep breath and resolved to speak with Lord Koenma about all of this later. If he had any decency at all, he would understand. But for now, the matter at hand was winning the battle. All of this would be moot if they didn't secure a victory first.

One last glance around the room assured Kagome that she was as prepared as she could be under the circumstances. She sighed and rose from her bed, hefting her backpack with more than a little effort. After stumbling and teetering and then experimenting with various tactics to keep her balance while walking, Kagome finally found one that worked and made her way precariously downstairs and out to the shrine. She found everyone waiting for her and took a deep breath as she joined them by the well.

Everyone looked a bit on edge. Yusuke peered down into the well, an uncertain expression on his face. "Um...is this gonna hurt or feel freaky or anything?"

Kagome smirked slightly. "No...just a little tingly...and you feel like you're weightless for a moment." A thoughtful expression then came over her face. "You know...I just thought of something. Up until now, not just anybody's been able to pass through the well. I don't even know if it'll let you guys through."

Koenma appeared unconcerned. "Those of us from Spirit World can open gateways and portals unaided. If it becomes necessary, either Botan or myself can activate it. However, I'd like you to give it a try first."

Kagome nodded and turned to everyone else. "Well...I suppose the best way to test is for someone to get in with me and see what happens."

Without hesitation, Genkai stepped forward. "I'll go first." With an effortless leap, she jumped over the ledge of the well and landed a second later on the well floor. Kagome climbed down into the well next to Genkai, huffing heavily from the weight of her bag. As soon as she touched down, unnatural light rose up around them and when it dissipated, a late afternoon sky hung above them and the songs of a forest filled their ears.

Genkai looked up and smiled slightly. "It seems to have worked."

Kagome grinned. "Welcome to the Warring States Era. Thank you for choosing Sacred Well Transportation Services!" Then she thought about how inane that must have sounded and internally reprimanded herself. Here she was standing with the most renowned spiritual woman in the world and she was making silly jokes!

To Kagome's surprise, however, Genkai smirked. "Since this is a one-way ticket for now," she said genially, "...I'll stay here while you go back for everyone else." She then leapt out of the well with the same ease that she had leapt in.

Kagome stood in awe for a moment. _'She actually joked with me! She's even cooler than I thought she'd be!'_ she thought giddily. She could still hardly believe that she was getting a chance to share an adventure with **_the_** Genkai. No matter what else came out of all of this, just being around Genkai was an honor that she'd cherish for the rest of her life.

She got so wrapped up in admiration that she nearly forgot she had more to do. After a moment, she looked around and realized that she was still just standing there. She wiped the dreamy look off of her face and returned her attention to the matter at hand, traveling back to her own time and the people still waiting there.

"Hey! Hello? Anybody down there?**" **Yusuke'sshouts fell to her ears the moment she reappeared.

"Yes! I'm back! It worked!" Kagome replied. "Genkai's waiting on the other side!"

Koenma then stepped forward and made a shooing gesture. "Ok...let's keep it moving then!"

"It'd be a little tight, but I could probably take two people at once!" Kagome shouted upward.

Kuwabara stepped forward and assumed an ostentatious stance. "I, Kazuma Kuwabara, will be the next to travel through time!" he announced pompously.

Yusuke cut his eyes at him. "Not before I do, moron!" Then both of them grabbed their belongings and clambered down into the well simultaneously.

"Hey!" Kagome protested as she dodged both boys who were racing to beat each other to the well floor. "It's too tight down here for you two to be pushing like that! Stop it! Cut it out!" Her rants continued even after the well transported them back in time.

Genkai saw the light that signified Kagome's return but then heard the sudden accompanying clamor. It only took her a second to realize who Kagome must be yelling at and she leaned over the edge, scowling forbiddingly at Yusuke and Kuwabara. "You two! Get your asses up here right now and stop farting around!"

Kagome was more than grateful when Yusuke and Kuwabara climbed out of the well, a great deal less rambunctious than they had been. As she began to travel back, she caught the beginnings of Genkai's lecture to the boys and smiled. _'Serves them right!'_ she thought to herself.

When she was back in her time once again, she sighed, grateful that her subsequent passengers were more docile. "Next!" she called upward.

Keiko looked back at Kurama and Hiei but Kurama gestured for her to go. "We'll wait for the last trip," he said with a smile. Keiko nodded and climbed down into the well and the strange light rose up once again.

After a minute or so of silence, Kagome's voice returned again. "Ok! All aboard for the last trip to Feudal Japan!"

"Good luck," Botan waved to Kurama and Hiei. "I'll see you guys later."

"And be careful," Koenma added. Kurama nodded and then he and Hiei leapt gracefully into the well beside Kagome.

Souta ran over to the ledge of the well and peered in. "Bye, Sis!" he called down. "Take care!"

"Bye Souta! Bye Mom! Bye Grandfather!" Kagome called back. "I love you and I'll see you later!"

"We love you too, Kagome!" her mother replied.

Hiei narrowed his eyes impatiently but before he could voice his irritation, light rose up around them and they were engulfed in the temporal transition.

When they reappeared, they heard the voices of everyone else above them and looked up to see the open sky. "Incredible," remarked Kurama.

Hiei, however, huffed softly. "Let's get on with it," he snapped and leapt out.

Kagome turned to Kurama. "Is he always like that?" she asked quietly.

Kurama smiled slightly. "Don't worry. It isn't you. Hiei acts that way to everyone."

Kagome nodded. "I see." She then looked up and slumped wearily at the thought of having to climb out with her backpack.

Kurama realized what was on her mind and smiled elegantly. "May I save you the trouble of climbing out of here? First, let me take that." He extended his arm to receive her bag.

Kagome beamed appreciatively at him. "Oh! Thank you!" she said in relief as she handed him her backpack. She watched in surprise as he put it on his back, not seeming the least affected by the weight.

Kurama then picked up his own suitcase with his left hand while extending his right arm to Kagome. "Hold on to me," he instructed.

Kagome blushed ever so slightly as she pressed up against Kurama's side and wrapped her arms around his neck. She felt a little thrill run down her spine when he closed his right arm around her.

It wasn't that she **_liked_** him, but being so close to any guy felt sort of intimate in a way. Kurama was very good looking and she couldn't help but notice that he smelled good too. She decided that she could allow herself to enjoy the brief attention. After all, Inuyasha was never this polite.

Once Kurama secured his hold on her, he leapt out of the well, landing gracefully on the surface and setting her down gently. He refused to surrender her backpack, assuring her that he would carry it. Kagome thanked him again, unable to prevent the blush that tinted her cheeks when he smiled sweetly in return.

Because everyone was watching, however, Kagome straightened immediately into her all-business demeanor. She cleared her throat and then walked into the center of the group. "Ok!" she said authoritatively. "The first thing we should do is head to Kaede's village. She's a local priestess and a friend. My other friends should be there too."

Everyone nodded in agreement and they began to follow Kagome toward the village. Very quickly, however, Kurama detoured just like he had when they had first arrived at the Higurashi Shrine. "The tree..." he uttered, heading toward the same tree he had seen in the present.

Kagome noticed what he was referring to and nodded. "That's the Sacred Tree and there's quite a bit of story to be told about it."

Kurama smiled. "I would very much like to hear those stories some time," he replied. "It is a rare tree, indeed...ancient and powerful."

Kagome looked at him in confusion. "How did you know that? Most people think it's just a plain old tree unless you tell them about it."

Yusuke grinned. "Kurama's got a knack for plants, to put it mildly."

Kagome raised an eyebrow. "That's some knack! I have a feeling that getting to know all you guys is going to be interesting."

"Interesting probably doesn't begin to describe it," Keiko remarked with a smirk.

Kagome smiled and then began to walk again. "Come on...the village is close-by." With that, they all resumed their trek toward the village.

---

Inuyasha sat up in a tree, staring off toward the horizon. His thoughts kept returning to Kagome. He had been consumed by her absence and had grumped around ever since the night of their argument, masking his misery with aggression. He regretted what he had done and he missed her greatly, but he'd never admit to either.

Miroku, Sango and Shippou were sitting outside as well, very near to the tree that Inuyasha was in. They were chatting lightly, casting occasional glances at Inuyasha and sharing meaningful looks with each other in agreement that he wasn't fooling anyone.

Inuyasha sighed loudly in exasperation and crossed his arms.

"Come off it, Inuyasha," called Shippou playfully. "Stop moping after Kagome and go apologize!"

"Hn!" scoffed Inuyasha as he turned his back to all of them. "Apologize for what?"

"For whatever you did to Kagome. It's obvious that you two fought, for you to come back in such a rampage," replied Sango in a casual tone that annoyed Inuyasha even further.

"Yes," agreed Miroku. "You only storm around like this when you and Kagome have had a fight...not to mention the fact that you returned with food. I'd venture to say that you wouldn't have needed to bring it with you if all had been well."

"Shut up!" growled Inuyasha. "Will all of you just get the hell off my back!" He missed the exchange of smirks that took place between them.

After a moment, however, Inuyasha suddenly became tense, sniffing the air as his body posture reflected complete alertness.

"What's wrong, Inuyasha?" Miroku asked, rising immediately.

"Kagome's back," growled Inuyasha. "...and she's not alone. I smell a demon."

* * *

**Additional notes:** I know! The chapter was short and it was terrible of me to end on a cliffhanger. But trust me, if I hadn't posted this much, the wait for a new chapter would have been even longer. I'll try to get the next one up a little quicker. Thank you for bearing with me. Long-term illness really sucks! 


	9. The Gang's All Here

**The Celestial Tiger's Notes: **Well! After a year of chronic illness, I finally had my gallbladder surgery. I'm still kind of reeling and my body is taking longer than I'd hoped it would to adjust. I have good days and bad days but up to this point, even the good days aren't as good as I'd like. I'm sick of being sick! Anyhow, the creative juices are flowing more slowly for now and I don't have the stamina for avid writing so chapters are still going to be a while in coming.

I do need to address a question that's been asked multiple times. There is some curiosity as to whether or not the gang will encounter Youko Kurama or Hiei of the past. The answer is no. I'm not entirely sure Hiei is even that old. I thought he was 300 or so but I'm not in the least certain. Still, no matter his age, I am of the impression that he spent most of his life in the Makai. He would have absolutely no reason to be in the human world in that point in time. The same goes for Youko. Now, I've read all sorts of varying accounts of his age...some say no more than 300, some say over 1,000 while others say over 3,000. For my purposes, since I think that 300 is not nearly old enough to befit a demon of such power and cunning, I'm going with over 1,000. That could mean anything beyond, so I'm covered even if he is several millennia old. Having said all of that, I am of the belief that he, too, dwelled mostly within the Makai, making thieving runs on the Spirit World when it suited him. I don't recall any accounts of his presence within the human world prior to the time that he entered Shuuichi. If anyone knows something that I'm not aware of, please let me know and tell me where I can find it! Otherwise, I'm going on the assumption that neither Youko nor Hiei were present in human history. I'm sure this is disappointing news to some, but it just wouldn't fit in with what I want to accomplish. However, don't despair, you Youko fans...he will not be neglected. Just have patience.

Now...the chapter that has probably been the most anticipated scene for months...geez...it has been months, hasn't it? Sorry guys! This must have gone through at least 5 MAJOR revisions before I posted it. I'm still not entirely sure I'm happy with it but I couldn't obsess over it any longer for fear that you'd all fossilize waiting around for it. Enjoy!

* * *

**Chapter 9: The Gang's All Here **

Late afternoon brought about a pre-sunset ambiance, the air cooling a bit as the sun drifted slowly closer to the horizon. A light breeze also helped clear the air of the remnants of the slight haze that had formed during the peak of the day. It was very late summer/early fall but the days were still warm.

Despite the cooling that accompanied the onset of twilight, there was still a somewhat lethargic, heavy quality to the air as the songs of day birds slowly transitioned into the lulling hum of evening bugs as they emerged to greet the end of the day. Other than that, however, all else was quiet and calm.

Kagome and her entourage had reached the path to the village and were walking along it, Kagome chatting with Keiko about school and movies and music and other such "getting to know you" type subjects. The two girls discovered that they had quite a lot in common and struck up a fast friendship. The rest of the group was silent and preoccupied with their own thoughts, save for Yusuke, who was listening to the girls' gossip so that he could roll his eyes and groan at them.

Kuwabara strode casually, hands in his pockets as he looked about, noting how different it was in this time as opposed to his own. There were no cars...no skyscrapers...no urban hustle and bustle...Kuwabara felt like he was in one of those medieval movies he liked to watch. Thoughts of ancient and noble samurai filled his mind as he ambled along and he decided that perhaps being here might not be so bad after all.

Kurama was also taking in the atmosphere, though a great deal more comprehensively than Kuwabara. The air was free of smog and the landscape was refreshingly wild and clean from trash and pollution. He breathed in a deep, cleansing breath and smiled, closing his eyes and welcoming the almost feral feeling that such untamed wilderness stirred within him. It had been a long time since he'd seen such unadulterated lands. He suddenly sorely missed being able to take on fox form and run wantonly through the forest. Still, despite a slight bitter acceptance of his current limitations, he still enjoyed the wellspring of sprightliness and vitality that this era seemed to be drawing out from his former nature.

Hiei was alert as always, his senses ever outstretched to give him a perfect conceptualization of his surroundings, down to every sight, smell, noise and stirring that he could sense at length. He was always guarded for danger and from the moment they had all stepped out of the well, he had been aware of the vast numbers of demons that inhabited the area all around them. Not since his last visit to the demon world had he felt so thoroughly inundated with the presence of so many other demons. It was unusual to feel such a strong demon presence within the human world. This time period really was infested, as Koenma said. He walked vigilantly, ready for any manner of battle that this era might present to him.

Genkai glanced at each member of her party, seeing how this strange new circumstance affected each one differently and uniquely. She noted Yusuke's avoidance to acknowledge his surroundings...a defense, she knew, to mask his deep apprehension over their very grievous task. He was stalling letting the reality sink in. At least the others were exercising awareness. But then...perhaps Yusuke was more aware and prepared than he let on. He had a knack for doing that. She could only hope that this was the case, as they were counting on his power most of all.

Suddenly, all thoughts were cut short. Yusuke, Kurama, Hiei, Kuwabara and Genkai suddenly stopped and tensed, their eyes all focused to a point somewhere on the path ahead as they dropped their luggage and readied themselves for an impending fight. Kagome and Keiko stopped talking and Keiko, seeing the warning signs, ran behind everyone so as not to be in the way.

Kagome remained where she was, finding it hard to believe that there could be anything too dangerous around Kaede's village since she was certain that Inuyasha was there. "What is it?" she asked, sounding more curious than worried.

"Somethin's comin straight at us," uttered Yusuke. "And fast."

All of a sudden, an aggressive shout shattered the lazy silence of the late afternoon. Then, a figure leapt over the horizon with a massive sword drawn in attack. This figure was clothed in red, its angry golden eyes flashing and its sharp fangs bared in fury. Canine ears were set atop a head of silvery-white hair.

"A demon," Kurama said quickly. Everyone was prepared to fight and it appeared as if a battle were inevitable.

"Oh no!" gasped Kagome, seeing that the so called demon was Inuyasha. "No! I gotta stop this...but how?" She looked back and forth quickly between Inuyasha and her party, desperately trying to figure out how to prevent them from engaging each other in combat. Just as Inuyasha was descending on them, Kagome resorted to the only thing that she could think of.

"**_SIT!"_**

Suddenly, the graceful leaping figure fell unceremoniously to the ground in front of them with an earth-shattering crash. Kagome cringed and everyone else looked on in astonished bewilderment. When the dust finally cleared, a muffled but very agitated voice rose up. "WHAT...IN...THE...HELL?" Inuyasha garbled out through a mouthful of earth.

Yusuke took a step forward and peered incredulously at the creature planted in the ground. "Holy shit!" he exclaimed, gazing at the crater that the collision had created.

Kagome opened her mouth to explain but Inuyasha suddenly recovered and sprang up, practically foaming at the mouth with anger. Yusuke quickly jumped back and everyone tensed defensively in uncertainty as to what this demon might do, eyeing him dangerously and ready to fight if necessary.

Inuyasha placed himself between Kagome and the strangers, his eyes narrowed and his ears flat in hostility as he uttered a growl that bore both human and canine qualities. "WHAT IN HELL'S GOING ON HERE?" he then shouted angrily back over his shoulder at Kagome, though he kept his gaze on the unfamiliar people. "I CAME TO SAVE YOU AND THAT'S THE THANKS I GET?"

"You **_know_** him?" Yusuke asked Kagome in shock. Everyone else seemed just as surprised.

Kagome laughed uneasily. "Yeah...heh heh...um...this is Inuyasha...he's a friend." She then placed her hands on Inuyasha's shoulders and squeezed them gently. "Calm down, Inuyasha...I don't need saving. These people are with me."

Inuyasha nearly fell over and then spun on Kagome in utter disbelief. "**_What in hell's the matter with you?_**" he sputtered. "Did you even realize that one of them's a **_demon_**?" he demanded, pointing accusatorily into their midst.

Kagome blinked in surprise and looked back at Yusuke and company. "Well...no...as a matter of fact, I didn't," she said in a skeptical tone.

Before the spirit detectives could address the issue, Sango, Miroku, Kirara and Shippou all came racing up, battle ready and prepared to help Kagome. "Get down, Kagome!" Sango shouted at her as she readied her weapon.

Kagome became tense and clenched her fists. "I DON'T NEED SAVING!" she yelled in frustration. This stopped everyone in their tracks and made Inuyasha cringe since she had practically screamed right into his ear. Sango and Miroku then lowered their weapons and dismounted from Kirara, approaching with caution. Kirara remained in her larger form and stood beside Sango. Shippou decided to stay hidden behind them until he could be certain it was safe.

"Are we to assume that these people are with you, then?" Miroku asked Kagome dubiously.

"Yes!" sighed a flustered Kagome as she slumped over. "Well, this could have gone better!"

"Are these people from your time?" Sango asked, eyeing their odd clothing. This question seemed to startle the strangers.

"They know about that?" Kurama asked in surprise.

"Yes," Kagome nodded, "...to both questions."

Inuyasha balked. "Well, that's just great!" he snapped acerbically. "While you were at it, why didn't you just invite **_everyone_** from your era? Damn it! You didn't even have enough sense to know you brought a demon through!"

"Demon!" Miroku and Sango exclaimed together, tensing slightly as they scanned the new faces warily.

"Yeah..." Inuyasha said in a low, dangerous voice and then he pointed a clawed finger straight at Hiei. "There." Hiei narrowed his eyes, his gaze hard and cold as he unflinchingly exchanged glares with Inuyasha.

Yusuke suddenly started waving his arms up and down manically. "**_Whoa! Chill!_**" he yelled. Then he pointed a finger of rebuke at Inuyasha. "You're a demon too, punk, so you got no right to wail on us!"

"Your speech...is very strange," Miroku stated with a bemused expression. "Still...your point is well made. Perhaps we should all calm down and discuss things."

Inuyasha growled impatiently, tightening his already clamped fist. "Yeah...like what in the **_hell_** this is all about and what in the hell **_Kagome_** was thinking bringing strange people into **_our_** business!"

Miroku suddenly cracked Inuyasha over the head with his staff. "Behave, Inuyasha. If Kagome brought them, then we can assume there's a very good reason. But that can wait for a bit. We should introduce ourselves first as a show of good faith." He then stepped forward and bowed respectfully. "I'm sorry we got off to such a rough start. My name is Miroku."

The strangers still seemed a bit hesitant, still under the sway of suspicion. After a moment, however, the short elderly woman among them finally stepped forward and returned the bow. "I certainly hope that we can over come this distrust," she said diplomatically. "Believe it or not, we are all on the same side." She then eyed Miroku discerningly for a moment. "You have an impressive amount of spiritual power, young man."

Miroku smiled at her. "I am a monk. Spiritual matters are my calling. And who might you be, that you sense spiritual energy?"

She smiled slightly. "My name is Genkai. I'm more or less what you might call a priestess."

"She kicks serious ass too," Yusuke added.

"Yeah...usually yours, Urameshi," Kuwabara jeered.

Yusuke shot Kuwabara a dirty look. "Ha ha...you're a real comedian."

"Alright, both of you knock it off," Genkai ordered.

"So...you're also a fighter, then?" Sango asked Genkai, trying to direct the conversation back to civility.

Genkai nodded. "Yes," she answered simply, and then she eyed Sango's weapon. "And you must also be a fighter...with a great deal of skill, to wield something like that."

Sango nodded and then bowed. "I'm Sango, the demon exterminator...and this is Kirara," she said, indicating the giant feline. She then looked back at Genkai. "I'm pleased to meet you."

Kuwabara perked up at that. "Hey! Hear that, shorty?" he teased Hiei. "Better watch out!"

Hiei spared Kuwabara an icy glare. "I fear no one, least of all a human," he said in a quiet but razor sharp tone.

"I would never attack an ally," Sango offered quickly, looking at Hiei with great uncertainty as to whether or not he even could be an ally.

"Oh, I'm sure you wouldn't. I was just kidding," chuckled Kuwabara. "By the way, the shrimpy little demon is Hiei," he announced, jerking his thumb in Hiei's direction. "I'm tellin' you because he probably won't introduce himself." Then he cupped his hand to the side of his mouth as if he were going to tell a secret. "Don't let the nasty act fool you. He really is on our side."

Hiei glared ruthlessly at Kuwabara while Kurama covered his mouth to hide his amusement. "Keep your mouth shut, ape," Hiei hissed.

Kuwabara wasn't daunted in the least and he continued talking, pointing at himself with a jovial grin. "And my name's Kuwabara...I'm a..."

"Moron," Yusuke interjected. Hiei seemed to approve of Yusuke's assessment.

"You punk!" retorted Kuwabara stridently. "Don't go trying to make me look bad in front of strangers!"

"I don't have to...you do it yourself," remarked Yusuke coolly.

Kuwabara started to turn red in the face. "Shut up, Urameshi!" Then he drew in a deep breath and to make sure that Yusuke didn't interrupt him again, he said all at once, "I'm Kuwabara, I'm a student and a fighter and I can use my spirit energy to form a really cool sword!"

Miroku and Sango were wide-eyed and blinked in surprise a couple of times. These new people from the future were very peculiar. "Nice...to meet you," Miroku stumbled out with a slightly baffled half-smile.

Kuwabara smiled and nodded and then returned his gaze to Inuyasha, his expression suddenly shifting to curiosity. "Uh...I don't get somethin'. How did you know that Hiei was a demon?"

"Oh please," Inuyasha scoffed. "I could smell it a mile away!"

"You're a dog demon," Kurama stated matter-of-factly. "That would explain your keen sense of smell."

"Inuyasha's actually a half-demon," Kagome interjected with an unassuming smile. Inuyasha rewarded her with a glare and a growl but she pretended not to notice.

Kuwabara started tapping the tips of his index fingers together uncomfortably. "Uh...I'm assuming the other half is human," he said somewhat stupidly as he stared at Inuyasha.

Inuyasha gnashed his teeth in annoyance but it was Yusuke who responded, rolling his eyes and smacking his forehead with the base of his palm. "DUH! Geez, you're a friggin **_dumbass_**!"

"Hey! It's new on me!" Kuwabara defended. "To tell you the truth, it's kinda weird to think about demons and humans...you know...being...together...and stuff." Kuwabara began to fidget, his face turning red just having made the implication.

"It's like Koenma said," Yusuke responded impatiently. "Demons are more a part of human life here than in our time...so get over it. Hey! Wait a sec! What about you and Yukina?" At this, Hiei gave Yusuke a dangerous look.

Kuwabara suddenly froze and blushed. "Oh yeah..." He often conveniently forgot that Yukina was a demon. "Ok, so maybe it's not that weird," he conceded.

Inuyasha gave Kuwabara a strange look. This guy liked a demon? What Inuyasha found even harder to believe was that a demon...or any woman for that matter... actually liked him. He was a fool!

Yusuke cut the topic short, however, by making rolling gestures with his hands. "Now that that's settled, can we get on with the next introduction? It'd be nice to have this done by bedtime."

"Yusuke!" Keiko scolded, stepping forward and shoving him. "You're not exactly making the best first impression, you know!"

Yusuke stumbled forward a bit and then turned around to give her a dirty look, but instead found himself staring at the back of Miroku's head. He hadn't seen the monk move! How did he manage to get in between them so quickly?

The funny thing was that no one else was really sure how Miroku managed it either, but there he was, standing right in front of Keiko with a suave and charming smile on his face. "Well, hello there!" he said in a silky tone. Then he leaned toward her, grabbing both of her hands and gazing meaningfully into her eyes. "Would you do me the honor of bearing my child?"

Kagome and Inuyasha groaned while a practically tangible dark cloud of anger built over Sango's head. The strangers all looked appalled and Yusuke was too stunned to react at the moment.

Keiko's eyes went wide and she forcibly pulled her hands out of Miroku's grasp, taking a step back away from him. **_"What?" _**she gasped in shock. **_"Are you nuts?"_**

Miroku stepped forward, rounding to her side. "Now, now," he cajoled. "Don't be shy."

"Look, buddy...I don't know what your customs are in this time, but..." Suddenly, her breath caught and her eyes went wide again. This strange man now had his hand on her posterior! And he was stroking it! Her hand instinctively flew upward and connected squarely with the side of his face. Then she backed away from him quickly, looking both disgusted and embarrassed.

Yusuke's shock finally dissolved and he clenched his teeth in anger, roughly gripping Miroku's shoulder and spinning the monk around to face him. **_"Just what the hell do you think you're doing?" _**he growled, shaking a very tight fist in Miroku's face.

Miroku raised his hands unassumingly and offered an innocent smile. "No need for aggression," he said pleasantly as he wormed his way out of Yusuke's grasp. Then he quickly skirted around Yusuke and retreated back into the ranks of his friends.

Yusuke turned to pursue the offending monk but before he could attack Miroku, Sango beat him to it. She grabbed Miroku and smacked him hard in the back of the head with her Hiraikotsu. "Miroku! You lecher! I can't believe you!"

"Ow, Sango!" Miroku protested as he rubbed the back of his head. "You know I can't help it!"

Sango growled in frustration. "Don't give me that! You're the one who made the speech about showing good faith and then you decide to be a pervert! How are we supposed to build trust while your hands are roaming?" She then offered an apologetic expression to the still seething newcomers. "I'm really sorry about that. Miroku comes from a long line of incorrigible lechers."

"Is that his way of saying hello?" Keiko asked cynically.

"I'm afraid it is," Sango replied. "At least when it comes to women."

Yusuke cut his eyes dangerously at Miroku. "Well, if he knows what's good for him, he won't ever do it again."

Keiko gave Yusuke a wry look. "Why are you so bent out of shape? You've done stuff that's just as bad."

"That's not the point!" defended Yusuke. "He doesn't even know you!"

Keiko sighed and then cleared her throat. "Well...in the interest of..._good faith_," she said with a sarcastic emphasis, giving Miroku a withering look, "...I'm willing to overlook that little incident and move on. My name is Keiko Yukimura. I'm not a fighter or anything, really. I'm just along to help when I can." She then bowed courteously.

"Nice to meet you, Keiko," Sango said with a smile and a bow in return. Miroku also bowed, but a side-glare from Sango ensured his polite silence. Inuyasha still seemed impatient but he at least spared Keiko a nod of acknowledgement when her eyes glanced over to him.

After Keiko had stepped back, Yusuke sighed. "Guess I'm next." He then took one more arrogant step forward. "Yusuke Urameshi...strongest fighter in the world," he boasted.

"Maybe in your time," Inuyasha muttered.

"What was that?" Yusuke retorted sharply. "Was that a challenge, **_dog-boy_**?"

Inuyasha growled and stepped forward but then suddenly stopped, his ears perking forward and his eyes growing large with a curious expression. He took another step toward Yusuke and started sniffing, looking keenly interested all of a sudden. "You smell really funny," he remarked, seemingly having forgotten his antagonism for the moment.

Yusuke's expression shifted from agitation to surprise. He stopped cold for a moment and stared at Inuyasha with his mouth slightly open. He then lifted his arm and sniffed his own armpit discriminatingly. "I'm not **_that_** funky!" he defended.

"Maybe it's that Dollar Saver cologne, Urameshi," Kuwabara chimed in. "Or your breath! Or maybe you stepped in something! Hahahahahaha!"

"**_Shut up, asshole!_**" Yusuke yelled back at Kuwabara.

"No!" Inuyasha grumbled. "I mean your overall scent. I've never smelled anything like it before. It's..." _sniff _"...mostly a human scent, but there's something..." _sniff _"...different."

Yusuke finally shrugged. "Look dude, I'm 100 percent human...bellybutton lint, toe jamb and all."

"Yusuke! That's gross!" protested Keiko.

"Well?" Yusuke shrugged at her, as if that were all the justification he needed. He then turned back to Inuyasha. "Hey...would you mind not sniffing me anymore? It's just kinda...weird."

Inuyasha frowned and responded with a, "Hmph!" but he did step back.

"Ok!" said Kagome, who had not spoken in quite a while. "Who's left?" she asked, looking around.

"That would be me," answered the red-head as he stepped forward. "You may call me Kurama," he said politely with a graceful bow. He didn't offer any additional information about himself but his manner was sincere and he seemed extremely likeable. Sango and Miroku bowed back while Inuyasha merely nodded, glad that the introductions were wrapping up.

"Hey!" said Kagome abruptly. "We're forgetting someone!" She then smiled sweetly. "Come on out, Shippou. It's perfectly safe."

A tiny face peered out from around Miroku's robes and then Shippou finally emerged from hiding with a nervous smile. Kurama's expression instantly shifted to surprise.

"Aw! How precious!" cooed Keiko.

"Hey! It's a little raccoon demon!" Kuwabara chirped with a goofy grin.

"I'm not a raccoon! I'm a fox!" Shippou shouted in indignation.

Suddenly, all the eyes of the newcomers shifted to Kurama. "Anybody you know, Kurama?" Yusuke asked half-jokingly.

Kurama cleared his throat uncomfortably and frowned. He hadn't intended to divulge his little secret quite so quickly. But it was apparent that Yusuke wasn't going to allow him a choice.

Shippou looked at Yusuke and then at Kurama in confusion. "Why would he know me? You guys are from the future."

Yusuke grinned, completely unaware of the glint of displeasure in Kurama's eyes. Hiei saw it, however, and frowned as well. He'd seen that look before...it could be very dangerous. As Hiei had testified to many times, Kurama was not someone to cross. He would almost have pitied Yusuke if the boy hadn't been so obnoxious.

"Kurama's a fox, too!" Yusuke spouted unabashedly.

Kurama, contrary to what the look in his eyes had promised, merely sighed and resigned himself to get it over with. It wasn't like he was somewhere where his true identity would haunt him. If anything, being here meant not having to worry about the consequences of Youko's reputation...after all, no one here would even know him.

Shippou looked at Kurama dubiously, as did Inuyasha, Kagome, Miroku and Sango. "But...he's a human," argued the tiny fox. "He certainly smells like a human."

Inuyasha nodded. "Shippou's right."

Kurama smiled jadedly and then nodded. "My body is human but my spirit is that of a demon fox. I took this body in refuge. Now I'm...permanently attached to it."

Miroku squinted slightly at him. "You know...your aura is very unusual. But I've seen demon possessions before. Yours isn't the same."

Kurama smiled slightly. "Well...this is far more complicated than a possession. You might call it a...demon integration."

Shippou, who's eyes had been growing wider and wider as the conversation progressed, finally beamed at Kurama. "Then it's true!"

Kurama nodded. "Yes. It is true."

Shippou's eyes sparkled as he looked up at Kurama. Kagome couldn't resist uttering a muffled squeal in the back of her throat. _'Shippou's found a new friend!' _she thought happily. Though she was surprised to learn that this boy she thought was a charming gentleman was really a demon underneath, it didn't really bother her. If only all demons came in such comely packages!

"Well!" she finally said with a bright smile. "Now that we've all met, let's get to Kaede's! I'll explain everything there and then we can get to know each other better after that!"

Yusuke and company all gathered their luggage back up and fell into place behind Kagome, Inuyasha, Miroku and Sango. As they began to walk, Shippou hopped up onto Kurama's shoulder and smiled admiringly at him.

Kurama was surprised at first but he found it impossible not to smile back. There was a time when a child's affections would have been of no consequence to him. But now he found himself warmed by this little kit who seemed so much more innocent than he ever remembered being in either his demon or human childhood. He walked silently, but with a tiny smile that did not fade even after he had turned his eyes forward.

They all proceeded onward to Kaede's village, each still filled with a ton of questions but at least prepared to discuss where to go from here. Kagome hoped that Inuyasha would lighten up so that the spirit detectives wouldn't hate working with him. Much in the same manner, Keiko hoped that Yusuke would behave himself so that these new people wouldn't find him intolerable. Still, despite uncertainties on both sides, the groundwork had been laid for an alliance that promised to be devastating to Naraku.

* * *

**Additional notes: **Again, I apologize profusely for this chapter being so long in coming. I do hope that you found it worth the wait. Eventually I'm going to start adding story-related drawings to my website. I can't wait to illustrate some of this stuff! It'll be great fun! 


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